Archinect - News

Three New York waterfront projects by WXY: Your Next Employer?

2024-07-08T12:34:00-04:00

Following our previous visit to New York-based OLI Architecture, we are keeping our Meet Your Next Employer series in Manhattan this week to explore the work of WXY Architecture + Urban Design.

Led by founding principal Claire Weisz, the firm has built a portfolio driven by “innovative approaches to public space, structures, and cities.” Recently, our editorial has reported on WXY’s involvement in a $45 million revitalization of the Storm King Art Center, a mixed-use affordable housing development atop a former juvenile detention center in the Bronx, and an urban farm within the Javits Center.

Several designers associated with the firm have also been honored with major awards and appointments within the industry, including founding principal Claire Weisz receiving an RAIC College Honorary Fellowship, managing principal Amy Hau’s appointment as director of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, and senior planner and urban designer Eugenia Di Girolamo’s appointment as the C...

WXY opens beachfront community center for Rockaway, Queens

2024-04-30T17:28:00-04:00

WXY Architecture + Urban Design has opened its new Arverne East Nature Preserve and Welcome Center in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens.

The project forms the first phase of New York City’s first net-zero residential community with 1,650 new units. It was realized at 6,000 square feet and includes a community meeting room and space for the Parks and Recreation Department's Urban Park Rangers program and The Campaign Against Hunger.

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albert Vecerka/Esto

WXY Founding Principal Claire Weisz describes: "Arverne East represents a unique and innovative path forward for the Rockaways — one rooted in honoring local knowledge, collective power, and an ongoing practice of community stewardship. The sustainable and resilient architecture creates an inviting, accessible space to connect with nature — a promontory for everyone from beachgoers to community organizers to Parks Department staff."

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albert Vecerka/Esto

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albe...

SO – IL and OSD to overhaul Detroit marina for new waterfront district

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

SO – IL and OSD have designed a new waterfront district for Detroit’s Little Village. The marina overhaul, named Stanton Yards, will see the existing storage and service-based site transformed into a 13-acre cultural destination with 80,000 square feet of commercial and creative space, 85 boat slips, and waterfront parks.

Image credit: bloomimages

SO – IL will lead the adaptive reuse of four existing pre-war industrial buildings, which historically housed a former theater, marina showrooms, service ships, and a navy shipyard used during World War II. Select demolition and the addition of “unifying elements and upgrades to accessibility” will create a campus for arts organizations, retail, artist studios, and hospitality.

Image credit: bloomimages

“The ethos that 'new ideas must use old buildings' guides our transformation of Stanton Yards into a thriving, multifaceted community,” said Florian Idenburg, Co-founding Principal of SO – IL, about the scheme. “Our design ingrains four histo...

Cobe, Dorte Mandrup, JAJA, and Tegnestuen Vandkunsten to lead new mixed-use housing development at Copenhagen's South Harbor

2024-04-12T13:41:00-04:00

Cobe is joining fellow Danish architecture firms Dorte Mandrup, Tegnestuen Vandkunsten, and JAJA, alongside Sweco engineers, to deliver a new mixed-use residential district in Copenhagen’s South Harbor. The one-million-square-foot design is set to include 1,000 new units of housing (25% of which are considered affordable) designed to help key the Danish building sector's vital green transition.

Each of the buildings will be constructed in line with the Reduction Roadmap initiative, an analog of the Paris Agreement, as well as the Planetary Boundary for Climate Change and a German DGNB platinum certification. Wood will be used as a primary building material throughout the structures, which are connected via canals, bridges, and new green areas.

Rendering courtesy Cobe

Cobe is also under tender to deliver the newly redesigned Danish parliament buildings and public entrance in Copenhagen and has nearby completed another mixed-use housing tract called Paper Island at its Inner Harbor, w...

Zaha Hadid Architects unveils major waterfront master plan in Oman

2024-03-15T11:52:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a waterfront master plan for downtown Muscat in Oman.

Under the plans, named the Al Khuwair development, the existing administrative and industrial areas will become an urban district with an expected population of 64,500.

Image credit: X UniverseCG, courtesy of MoHUP

The district will comprise five areas: a marina, a recreational waterfront with beaches and sports facilities, a canal walkway, a cultural quarter, and a Ministry campus. Residential areas will be incorporated throughout the master plan alongside arts, culture, and leisure facilities within mixed-use developments.

Image credit: X UniverseCG, courtesy of MoHUP

Building on Muscat’s history as a port city, the development will be anchored by the marina, which will include public green spaces along the waterfront and dining, retail, hotel, and residential developments. Elsewhere, buildings within the existing Ministry campus are expected to be retrofitted and reused through a program of re...

LA’s Wilmington Waterfront Promenade opens after Sasaki landscape overhaul

2024-02-29T12:24:00-05:00

The Wilmington Waterfront Promenade in Los Angeles has opened to the public following an extensive public landscape project by Sasaki Associates. The park seeks to improve public waterfront access near the Port of Los Angeles and expands on the 30-acre Wilmington Waterfront Park that Sasaki completed in 2011.

Image credit: Barrett Doherty

The new promenade, designed by Sasaki and Studio-MLA, is described by the team as “the first opportunity for the community to reconnect with the waterfront.” Among the spaces designed as part of the promenade is ‘The Landing,’ which sits at the highest point of the park, doubling as a spot for a future bridge. Meanwhile, the ‘Upland Walkways’ consists of a series of meandering paths landscaped with coastal planting.

Image credit: Barrett Doherty

‘The Bluff’ consists of a large, flexible open lawn intended to host community events, while the ‘Tidal Steps’ is described as a “dynamic water's ...

MAD designs Chinese waterfront arts center as a ‘gentle ripple by the lake’

2024-01-04T11:35:00-05:00

MAD Architects has designed a waterfront arts center in China’s Foshan City described as a “gentle ripple by the lake.” When completed in 2029, the Nanhai Art Center will cover an area of 640,000 square feet, housing a grand theater, a museum, and a sports center.

Image credit: MAD Architects

The scheme has been conceived as a “continuous wave of water,” with the three main buildings sitting underneath a floating canopy comprised of a white, translucent ETFE membrane. The resulting blurring of outdoor and indoor spaces seeks to emphasize the prominence of the nearby lake in the scheme, encouraging the local community to embrace the waterfront as a part of the scheme’s cultural function.

Image credit: MAD Architects

“The traditional culture of Nanhai is in the drum beat and boat drift during the dragon festival boat race and in the kung-fu in the lion dance,” MAD founder Ma Yansong about the site’s context. “Watching them, you can feel the dynamic vibrant, and innovative spirit from an...

Studio Gang, SCAPE complete work on transformative $61 million Tom Lee Park in Memphis

2023-11-06T15:35:00-05:00

Studio Gang and SCAPE have shared new photos following the completion of work on their $61 million Tom Lee Park redevelopment project in Memphis, Tennessee.

The 31-acre riverfront space puts Memphis squarely in league with a host of contemporary restorative urban green space projects slated for other major American cities, including San Francisco's new Presidio Tunnel Tops and the partially completed Freshkills Park in Staten Island.

Its ecological restoration work and accessibility to the residents of one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods make it an instant industry standard-bearer. The project creates a connection between downtown and the Mississippi River, also providing new ADA-approved access at three different points for the first time.

Image © Tom Harris

Studio head Jeanne Gang says: “Insights and input from the Memphis community were essential to this project from the very beginning, to make sure the park’s programming reflects how Memphians from across the city ...

3XN designs amphitheater-like venue for Baltimore’s waterfront

2023-11-03T12:42:00-04:00

3XN has unveiled its design for a new destination at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, holding a mixture of retail, hospitality, and public amenities located in a “market hall environment.”

The scheme draws inspiration from the sails dotting the city’s waterfront, with an architectural language that seeks to become a “natural extension of the waterfront and nestle into the existing architecture.”

Image credit: 3XN

A concave form of the building seeks to create an amphitheater-like space aided by public landscaped roof terraces while creating elevated views of the water.

Image credit: 3XN

The emphasis on external landscapes forms part of 3XN’s strategy for climate resilience, with landscaped elements doubling as stormwater management and flooding mitigation. The edges of the concave terraces are shaped to catch the prevailing wind, while the ground floor has been designed with anticipation for flooding, with the building itself imagined as “a community refuge during extreme heat and poor air q...

Frank Gehry will design a new Gladstones restaurant replacement for Wolfgang Puck in LA

2023-08-23T13:21:00-04:00

After more than 50 years in service, iconic oceanfront restaurant Gladstone’s is slated to close within the next year, making way for a long-anticipated restaurant from some of L.A.’s most recognizable names. In 2024, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck expects to break ground on a new, Frank Gehry-designed, two-pronged project that will rise in its place. The new operators plan to break ground in early to mid 2024 and expect at least 18 months of construction before a 2025 debut.

The Pacific Palisades site sits on a total 2.8-acre parcel abutting the Pacific Coast Highway and Will Rogers State Beach approximately three miles north of Gehry's now underway Ocean Avenue project in Santa Monica.

Puck promised to deliver an "approachable, high-quality cuisine in a distinct architectural setting" when the redevelopment was first announced in 2018.

Also in Los Angeles, Gehry’s 800,000-square-foot Warner Bros. Second Century studios expansion recently opened, while a buyer is still being sought for the planned mixed-use project at 8150 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.

Liverpool's International Slavery Museum cuts ties with Adjaye over misconduct allegations

2023-08-15T10:49:00-04:00

The forthcoming International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, England has formally terminated their contract with Adjaye Associates over allegations involving its director’s misconduct with women first surfaced in a Financial Times report in the first week of July.

Adjaye had already left the larger Canning Dock redevelopment project over a year ago, though his design (with Ralph Appelbaum Associates) for the remade museum was still in tow and worth a reported £57 million (or about $72 million USD). The design, which calls for an overhaul of the existing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. building, will still be pursued by National Museums Liverpool (NML), albeit with a different architect they will select following the rewarding of a new tender that was announced along with the cancellation.

With the announcement, the NLM joins a growing list of other entities to have split with Adjaye that includes the UK Holocaust Memorial team, Vermont's Shelburne Museum, the City of Cleveland, and the A...

‘Evocative’ truss wraps HWKN’s completed waterfront building in Washington D.C.

2023-06-29T11:35:00-04:00

HWKN has published images of their recently-completed Water Building One project in Washington D.C. The 13,400-square-foot building sits on the edge of the new District Wharf development on the city’s waterfront and is designed for hospitality and to host visiting boat crews.

Image credit: Ryan Fischer

The team describes the scheme as a “taught and graphic” design set against the backdrop of the wider development and is intended as a “new icon to welcome boats to Washington D.C. and visitors to District Wharf.”

Image credit: Ryan Fischer

The defining feature of the building’s exterior is a truss which the architects describe as a “conceptual extension of the long bench that runs along District Wharf’s waterfront.” Behind the truss is a simply detailed glass box with large interior spaces providing uninterrupted views of the Jefferson Memorial and the adjacent waterfront.

Image credit: Ryan Fischer

The project...

UNStudio debuts K.Wah G72 mixed-use development in Nanjing

2023-04-25T13:58:00-04:00

UNStudio has just unveiled plans for another new mixed-use development project in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

Dubbed K.Wah G72, the scheme will enact what they call a “lifestyle waterfront community” space along the city’s Qinhuai River, with the new home of the UCCA Centre for Contemporary Art serving as its base surrounded by green terraces, a hotel, apartments, and office tower blocks that create a new hub for socializing and commercial activity.

Image courtesy UNStudio

Ben van Berkel, the studio’s founder and principal architect, shared: “The Nanjing K.Wah G72 mixed-use development will serve as a one-stop destination in which lifestyle, innovation and work are brought together. It aims to be a benchmark for newly integrated urban developments in Nanjing, across the country, and beyond.”

Image courtesy UNStudio

As always, UNStudio says sustainability will be the project’s central concern, adding that it will serve as a “landmark in sustainability and future-proof design in China....

National Museums Liverpool releases new Asif Khan and Theaster Gates-led waterfront development proposals

2023-04-19T15:06:00-04:00

Weeks after the announcement that David Adjaye and Mariam Kamara would be leaving the project, National Museums Liverpool (NML) has unveiled its revised vision for the redevelopment of the city’s waterfront area co-authored by Asif Khan and Theaster Gates respectively.

Under their direction, a pair of interconnected proposals are now being advanced. The scope of the projects includes a newly-created public realm, pedestrian footbridge, and visitors’ pavilion in the place of two historic dry docks that are linked to the overhauled International Slavery Museum, Maritime Museum, and the Museum of Liverpool, which all tell their story.

Image courtesy National Museums Liverpool (NML)

The NML says it hopes the development will work to present a “prototype for a fresh new mode of co-production between community partners and museums.”

Image courtesy National Museums Liverpool (NML)

Khan says the project must in the end work to help the city recon...

Foster + Partners unveils plan to commercially 'rewild' idyllic Cyprus coastal town of Larnaca

2023-03-31T12:18:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has announced its design of a master plan for a new seafront development in the Cypriot city of Larnaca.

Working for its client, the Petrolina Group, the firm will deliver “The Land of Tomorrow,” a multifaceted project that aims to double the available publicly-accessible space along the waterfront while enhancing the overall ecological value of the land located on the southern coast of the island.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Their press announcement promises a “low-rise, human-scale, and a natural extension of the urban grain” development that will aid the local community’s job prospects while supposedly celebrating the area’s heritage through a series of architectural gestures and the integration of historic artifacts emblematic of its industrial past.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Ben Scott, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners, said: “The master plan retains and enhances the city’s character while creating an exciting new vision for its future. Our approac...

David Adjaye, Mariam Kamara depart major Liverpool waterfront project

2023-03-29T17:04:00-04:00

Two big-name architects are departing from the National Museums Liverpool (NML) scheme to create a new public realm at the city’s Canning Dock, according to a report published earlier today by the Architects’ Journal.

David Adjaye and Mariam Kamara are now out of the project team for the redevelopment, which includes Asif Khan, Theaster Gates, Arup, and a host of other UK-based firms.

The team first was first announced as the winners of an international competition in October of 2021. Adjaye will reportedly remain on to finish their International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum restorations, which are both separate projects. Neither architect has provided a statement addressing the changes at press time.

An aerial view of Canning Dock. Image: Gary W. Smith

A spokesperson from the museum told AJ simply, “Once the direction of the project was established, the collective agreed that Khan and Gates would take the project forward.”

Ultimately, the £75 million ($92.4 million) project wi...

3XN and GXN offer insights into unique roof design behind Sydney Fish Market

2023-02-09T08:00:00-05:00

With construction underway on the 3XN-designed Sydney Fish Market in Australia, the firm has offered an insight into the design of the scheme’s defining roofscape. When completed, the 700,000-square-foot building will be the largest fish market in the southern hemisphere.

Image credit: 3XN

The building’s undulating roof is described by 3XN as “an integral aspect of the fish market’s iconic design” as well as being key to its overall sustainability strategy. Shaped to respond to the spatial demands of the market below, the roof is designed to harvest rainwater for reuse, protect retail spaces from the sun, and filter daylight through openings on the rooftop.

Image credit: 3XN

The shape of the roof was informed by the site’s prevailing winds, allowing the extraction of hot air while protecting users from southerly winds. Made from timber and aluminum, the roof is also designed to be as permeable as possible, minimizing the need for air conditioning while also deflecting direct sunlight....

Inside Snøhetta and WERK’s ‘lantern’ maritime center in Esbjerg, Denmark

2023-01-12T11:00:00-05:00

Snøhetta and WERK Arkitekter have completed a new maritime center in Esbjerg, Denmark. The circular timber center, dubbed “The Lantern,” houses multiple watersport clubs, boat storage, training facilities, a large workshop, and social functions, and is described by its designers as “a new landmark lighting up the Danish west coast.”

Image credit: wichmann+bendtsen photography

Having won a competition for the scheme’s design in 2019, Snøhetta and WERK used the building to pay homage to the maritime tradition and significance of Esbjerg’s port by translating the geometry and craftsmanship of local boats. The rhythm and repetition of the building’s facade are inspired by wooden boat construction, with a rippling motif inspired by the effect of throwing a stone into water. In addition to reflecting the water’s energy, the changes in the angle of facade panels create varying shadows inspired by the shapes of kayaks.

Image credit: wichmann+bendtsen photography

The wooden rhythm continues on...

SWA Group to develop the Port of LA's waterfront connectivity plan

2022-12-22T12:39:00-05:00

SWA Group has announced plans to transform parts of America’s biggest container port, the Port of Los Angeles (POLA), in a project aimed at increasing connectivity in the public access realm.

“The San Pedro Waterfront is on its way to becoming a truly world-class destination, and we believe that much of it depends on connectivity,” SWA’s Co-CEO Gerdo Aquino explained in a statement. “It will be transformative to enhance accessibility for locals and visitors alike, to create an easily navigable multi-modal waterfront.”

In the hopes of “aiding its evolution over the next 50 years,” Aquino’s team of engineers and other project consultants will work to activate the waterfront area while compiling a comprehensive mobility strategy that links different nodes along eight miles of potentially accessible waterfront edges and a 460-acre swath of land.

Image courtesy SWA Group

The scope of the project will incorporate cruise terminals, the historic San Pedro Ferry Building, Cabrillo Marine Aqu...

Adjaye Associates designs major 35-acre master plan for Cleveland waterfront

2022-12-06T12:03:00-05:00

Adjaye Associates has designed a major master plan along the Cleveland riverfront in collaboration with real estate firm Bedrock. The Cuyahoga Riverfront development spans 35 acres and is described by its designers as a “15-to-20-year vision” that “prioritizes accessibility, equity, sustainability, and resilience with the development of an 18-hour, 15-minute downtown.”

Concept rendering © Adjaye Associates

Under Adjaye’s plans, the waterfront development will host over 3.5 million square feet of space, including 2,000 residential units, 850,000 square feet of office space, 12 acres of public space, and supporting hospitality, retail, and entertainment venues.

“Our redevelopment strategy for the downtown Cleveland Riverfront taps into the lost heritage of the city, establishing a new relationship between the urban core and the shore,” David Adjaye explained. “As I became more deeply immersed, the need to build a more tempered flow of movement through the city became immensely clear.”

...

KPF breaks ground on a new headquarters for T. Rowe Price in Baltimore

2022-03-31T19:36:00-04:00

An exciting birthday gift is underway in the Charm City as Kohn Pedersen Fox has finally broken ground on a new headquarters for T. Rowe Price in the company’s hometown of Baltimore 85 years after its founding.

The project was announced in December 2020 and centers around a new 550,000-square-foot two-winged building with an all-glass central atrium sited along a prime piece of waterfront real estate fronting the pivotal gateway of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area.

KPF Design Principal Jeffrey Kenoff said the project will create a “hyper-porosity, both visual and physical, from the Central Plaza down to the harbor. The façade specifically reduces the scale of the massing through a cadence of grey double-height bays that echo the city’s historical DNA and industrial heritage.”

Plans are for construction to be completed in 2024. The building will aim for ambitious Fitwel Three-Star and LEED Platinum certifications in its interiors. T...

Heatherwick Studio designs floating parkland pier for Seoul

2022-01-27T15:26:00-05:00

Heatherwick Studio has unveiled their proposal for a public waterfront development in Seoul, South Korea. The proposal forms part of a wider sports and cultural district close to the site of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

Named The Leaf, the Heatherwick scheme consists of a multi-level pier sitting on the Han River. The pier features a walkable roofscape with undulating surfaces, consisting of winding trails, water gardens, play areas, observation points, and an event/auditorium space. The roofscape folds upwards at the edges to create lower-level waterside spaces as well as a marina for water taxis and leisure craft.

Image via Heatherwick Studio

“At the heart of our project is the idea of playful togetherness,” said Heatherwick Partner and Project Lead, Stuart Wood. “We want this to be a refreshing and dynamic new civic space for the city of Seoul where people come to laugh, explore, and connect. Somewhere joyful and restorative for everyone.”

Heatherwick is one of a number of arch...

High Line developer Robert Hammond joins Therme as the company unveils a $350 million wellness theme park for NYC

2021-10-27T13:51:00-04:00

Luxury spa designer Therme Group is making a big splash as it looks to expand into the U.S. for the first time.

The megaspa makers are back with a new design that would add a “wellness theme park” to the city as part of a $350 million development proposal. That effort will be overseen by former High Line developer Robert Hammond, who has officially joined Therme according to reporting yesterday in Crain’s and the New York Post.

Hammond noted the public’s demand for spaces that come in the form of “a park and a botanical garden and a gathering place and programming,” adding that, like the High Line, Therme “combines nature, community, well-being, and art together.”

“As someone who understands firsthand the healing power of nature and the importance of mindfulness, I believe everyone needs a place where they can comfortably and affordably reconnect with themselves, nature, and the environment around them,” he added.

The group is actively searching for waterfront space in Manhattan an...

Liverpool has been stripped of its World Heritage Site status after a ruling by UNESCO

2021-07-22T17:00:00-04:00

Unesco’s decision will no doubt be shrugged off as the prissy overreaction of an unelected body and, given what has been allowed in Edinburgh, the world heritage designation seems largely ineffectual anyway. But the act of striking Liverpool off the list helps to shine a powerful international spotlight on a city that has been happy to embrace mediocre development for far too long. It is a useful reminder that the world is watching.

Liverpool has failed to retain its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site following a meeting by the agency Wednesday in China.

The decision comes as no surprise to those who have for decades now been trying to prevent encroaching development near the city’s Victorian-era docks. UNESCO pointed to the “irreversible loss” of the docks’ historical value brought on by several multi-million pound projects including the Museum of Liverpool and new Everton football stadium.

UNESCO had originally placed the city on its list in 2004, but the slew of development that has taken place since brought on changes to the city skyline constituting a “significant loss to its authenticity and integrity” that lead to the agency’s decision which the city’s mayor has said could be appealed.

Oliver Wainwright responded with a missive decrying the city’s headstrong development pushes he views as “the consequences of a city in thrall to developers” that have destroyed Liverpool’s historic character in the s...

UNStudio design selected as the winning proposal for Sochi Waterfront

2021-07-22T08:59:00-04:00

An inclusive master plan for the Sochi waterfront by UNStudio has been announced as the winner of an international competition that will reshape the resort community with its second major construction boom in the past decade. The studio beat out other submissions with a sprawling litoral intervention meant to transform Sochi into “a place for all.”

Image courtesy UNStudio

The former Olympics host is known throughout Russia as a coveted pearl on a chain of Black Sea resort towns tantamount to the Amalfi Coast or French Riviera. UNStudio’s intervention will aim to integrate existing cultural and leisure industry destinations into the development in the hopes of strengthening the city’s claims as a haven for tourists.

Renders: ZOA, UNStudio

Per the architect: “The goal of the city’s future development is to make Sochi the most progressive and international harbor for culture, technology, health, and innovation and to enrich the life of a local community and visitor...

SOM unveils design for new waterfront development in Zhuhai, China

2020-09-17T12:33:00-04:00

SOM's design for Jiuzhou Bay—a new mixed-use neighborhood located along the Pearl River Delta in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province—will transform the waterfront of the Greater Bay Area’s burgeoning tech hub and create a blueprint for future development in China. The low-carbon community takes its inspiration from the region's maritime history and will feature offices, residences, retail spaces, and infrastructure for the city's new residents and visitors.

SOM was selected from a shortlist of 10 global designer firms to design the new 5.6 million-square-foot mixed-use development. The concept contains plans for an expansive transportation hub that will offer connectivity to land, sea, and rail across 40 acres.

Five modular canopies make up a core element of the design, enclosing three sides of the 1.8 million-square-foot port. "The forms of the canopies are inspired by the local legend of the Fisher Girl and reflect the fishing nets commonly seen on the coastline throughout the region," sai...

Henning Larsen selected to redevelop Belfast waterfront

2020-07-10T14:22:00-04:00

Henning Larsen Architects has been selected to design a new 2.6-hectare redevelopment scheme for the areas surrounding a currently underutilized stretch of Belfast's River Lagan waterfront.

The project, recently approved by the Belfast City Council, will bring a mix of offices, housing, and public spaces to the district with the goal of using buildings and a "microclimate"-focused site design to drastically increase the number of weeks the area is suitable for comfortable outdoor habitation.

“We saw a truly special opportunity in this ambitious project to bring a Nordic understanding of the public realm to Belfast,” states Henning Larsen partner Jacob Kurek, adding, “From Copenhagen, we know that harbors and rivers have enormous potential to attract and activate public life in a city. River Lagan will no longer be a division in Belfast but a connection – a hub – instead.”

Renderings for the project depict a mix of glassy, mid-rise buildings with prominently detailed retail areas, ...

How New Orleans dodged Robert Moses's "Riverfront Expressway"

2019-08-13T19:45:00-04:00

Fifty years ago this summer, word reached New Orleans that John Volpe, secretary of the Department of Transportation under President Richard Nixon, had canceled the Riverfront Expressway—the high-speed, elevated interstate highway slated for the edge of the French Quarter.

Tulane University urban geographer Richard Campanella pens a lengthy remembrance for the failed Riverfront Expressway, a Robert Moses-designed highway that would have cut New Orleans off from its historic waterfront and the Mississippi River.

The epic struggle to turn back the highway was dubbed “the Second Battle of New Orleans,” and brought together preservationists, community members, and business interests against the infamous Power Broker.

BIG and Freaks' MÉCA in Bordeaux creates a budding cultural hub

2019-07-05T17:05:00-04:00

The Maison de l'Économie Créative et de la Culture or MÉCA is Bordeaux's newest cultural hub. Costing €60m, the site will house a performing arts center, a creative agency for books, cinema, and audiovisual media as well as housing three prestigious French associations the ALCA, OARA, and FRAC regional art center. When BIG and Paris-based architecture firm FREAKS were chosen for the project in 2012, both studios devised a plan to construct a structure that would connect three art institutions to create the ultimate contemporary hub for multi-disciplinary practice in Bordeaux's Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

MÉCA is a waterfront venue fit for visitors to enjoy a celebration of art, film, and performance. The center embodies a flowing structural loop connecting each institute. According to a recent press release by BIG, "The building is conceived as a single loop of cultural institutions and public sp...

Where does Philadelphia's I-95 cap park stand?

2019-06-26T10:16:00-04:00

The opening of I-95 in Philadelphia 40 years ago cut the city’s waterfront neighborhoods off from their source. For more than a decade, the city has been planning a fix: a new park at Penn’s Landing that would cap a stretch of the highway and again connect Old City with the Delaware River.

A recent report from The Philadelphia Inquirer recaps the city's long-running effort to build a pedestrian plaza over Interstate-95 linking downtown Philadelphia with an existing waterfront park at Penn's Landing and the Delaware River.

Designed by Hargreaves Associates, the proposed 4-acre park has been in the planning stages for nearly a decade and is moving slowly but surely toward construction.