Archinect - News

PAU releases updated renderings for Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project

2023-12-12T17:17:00-05:00

Preliminary renderings for the $12 million Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)-led Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project have been released following a public meeting to discuss plans in the border city.

The multi-phase initiative will strengthen the connection between the city’s downtown and Niagara Falls State Park and Riverway Tree Walk. Four canopied gateway structures will be enacted as part of its design, offering tourists views of the nearby American Rapids and Goat Island and connected by a “network” of promenades and shaded open spaces.

Rendering of the Riverway Tree Walk at night. Image courtesy PAU

The initial phase calls for the redevelopment of Hydraulic Power Plaza and Niagara Gorge Gateway Park followed by the construction of the Tree Walk, which includes a viewing platform to be placed at a wooded clearing and serving as a beacon for visitors between downtown and the Riverway.

Hydraulic Power Plaza. Image courtesy Hargreaves Jones Landscape Architecture

“T...

PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino reopens Brooklyn's most iconic building to the modern workplace

2023-09-27T15:25:00-04:00

A landmark era of high-profile additions and architectural changes to the historic Brooklyn waterfront has ushered in a new chapter with today’s official public unveiling of the PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino office component at the 11-acre former Domino Sugar Factory site in Williamsburg.

The new, 15-story glass commercial space was constructed inside the building’s old brick masonry shell, offering tenants 460,000 square feet of Class A office space enhanced by carefully-inserted biophilic elements and marked by the firm’s attenuation to ascendant health and wellness considerations typical in modern workplace design.

Photo: Max Touhey

A 12-foot gap left between the new and old structures provides space for Field Operations’s 17-count in-house arboretum while standardizing a misalignment with the floors and helping to flood the bonetti/kozerski-designed office interiors with natural light and expanded access to vegetation throughout the day.

Photo: Max Touhey

A vaulted 27,000-s...

PAU begins Rock & Roll Hall of Fame expansion in Cleveland

2023-09-13T14:00:00-04:00

PAU has shared details of its expansion project of the I.M. Pei-designed Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland ahead of next month’s anticipated groundbreaking.

The initiative will add a triangular structure to Pei’s iconic original glass pyramid design, featuring a new entrance lobby, education center, offices, and a 6,000-square-foot multipurpose space that’s meant to increase its overall footprint by 33% while activating public space along a currently underutilized section of the city’s Lake Eerie waterfront.

Rendering courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

The total 50,000-square-foot design evokes the museum’s architectural lineage within the new addition, where solid shapes pronounced as asymmetries serve as the visual markers of the building’s various programmatic elements combined under a tilted angular roof and façade composed of steel and granite in further reference to the region’s industrial character.

Rendering courtesy of Practice for Architect...

HOK and PAU reveal rival 'P3' Penn Station renewal proposal

2023-07-03T12:19:00-04:00

A new proposal from HOK and Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has been unveiled as the competition to design a more modern and accessible update to Penn Station continues just days after New York State Governor Kathy Hochul officially scaled back the project due to economic concerns and pushback from local residents.

The two firms’ split proposal would supposedly be delivered in six years and at a cost of $6 billion using a combination of grants, state, and federal money, in addition to a $1 billion capital investment from ASTM North America.

The plan calls for the addition of a new open-air plaza as well as open-air terraces and two new entrances along Eight Avenue.

Image courtesy of ASTM, PAU, and HOK

HOK’s President Carl Garlioto describes: “The New Penn Station will bring much-needed light into two new train halls, including a grand new Eighth Avenue hall with 55-foot ceilings above the passenger concourse and a glass-wrapped mid-block hall with a sunlit passage betwe...

FAA selects PAU to deliver new air-traffic control tower prototypes

2023-04-20T17:42:00-04:00

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced its selection of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) for a new sustainable air-traffic control tower prototype that will initially deliver 31 highly-adaptable facilities at small regional and municipal airports throughout the United States.

The projects, funded in part through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, were selected against the agency’s strict requirements to minimize environmental impact while reducing operational costs and the price of construction.

Image courtesy PAU

Construction will vary in height between 63 and 119 feet and include elements such as all-electric building systems, thermal efficient facades, mass timber, and recycled steel and metal products. The new generation of towers will replace I.M. Pei’s iconic mid-century variation on the typology and will include interior spaces tailored to the well-being of air traffic control workers.

Image courtesy PAU

Geothermal heating and cooling techniques a...

Biophilic installation begins at Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Factory, including 17 big trees

2023-04-10T14:55:00-04:00

In advance of the expected project completion later this summer, the Brooklyn-based developer Two Trees Management has shared images of its recent installation of the biophilic program inside PAU’s long-awaited Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment in Williamsburg.

The installation comprises 17 30-foot trees, each weighing more than 10,000 pounds, that make up the core of the project’s indoor vertical garden component, which highlights the 460,000 square feet of new office space being created inside the iconic 19th-century waterfront structure.

Image © Wes Tarca

Each tree had to first be carefully hoisted above the roofline of the refinery and then “surgically” placed inside via a 12-foot-wide opening between the brick facade and envelope of the 27,000-square-foot all-glass office addition located further within.

Image © Wes Tarca

The overall $250 million project began in 2014 and includes the James Corner Field Operations-designed Domino Park segment i...

PAU to lead the design of a new gateway enhancement project at Niagara Falls

2023-01-06T09:00:00-05:00

Vishaan Chakrabarti’s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has been selected to lead the design of the new $12 million Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project, the studio unveiled via a press announcement on Thursday.

The project’s brief calls for the creation of four gateway structures and will supposedly enhance connections between downtown Niagara Falls and the popular state park in an extension of a previous strategic plan begun by PAU and the state in early 2021.

Images courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

"We're thrilled to continue our work with New York State in Niagara Falls with an expanded team including landscape architects Hargreaves Jones," Chakrabarti said of the new collaboration."The Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project is a chance to demonstrate how thoughtful design can restore rather than remake our cities."

Images courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

"It is by building on a foundation of shared history — instead ...

Vishaan Chakrabarti is stepping down as Dean of Berkeley CED

2021-09-24T16:05:00-04:00

Berkeley CED dean Vishaan Chakrabarti has announced he will be leaving his post at the university to return to New York over pressing family medical concerns.

Chakrabarti ascended to the position in 2019 after a successful career in New York, where he quickly established his firm PAU as an industry leader in sustainable design.

The 55-year-old left said he Berkeley with a “new foundation from which to build” and departs in the midst of a tenure in which CED underwent a tremendous amount of change and restructuring.

A university statement cited Chakrabarti’s “enormous mark on the college over the past year, even in the midst of a global pandemic” and praised the architect for his leadership commitment to social justice issues.

Chakrabarti was able to raise over $17 million for the college during his tenure as Dean and leaves behind a legacy of innovation, collaboration, and thoughtful stewardship.

Previously featured on Archinect shortly after Chakrabarti was named new dean at ...

Architect Vishaan Chakrabarti expresses his hopes for Philadelphia and the 'false choice' for cities

2021-03-12T19:11:00-05:00

The problem we have across the United States is we’ve been given a false choice for the future of our cities. We’ve been told that our cities are one of two things: the failing bankrupt, crime-ridden cities of the 1970s, or the bourgeois, gentrified cities of more recent history. And that’s our choice. If we want a tax base, then we need chain stores and gentrification. Otherwise, we have no tax base and cities become a horror story.

On March 11, architect Vishaan Chakrabarti presented a virtual panel for the Industry Intersections: Art, Design + Development, hosted by the Arts + Business Council in Philadelphia. Along with guest panelists, Lindsey Scannapieco (co-founder of Scout), Sven Schroeter (Director of Interior Architecture at KSS Architects), and Rachel Zimmerman (Executive Director of InLiquid) where the connection between design, real estate, and economic recovery for Philadelphia's creative community are discussed. Before Chakrabarti's virtual panel, he spoke with WHYY's PlanPhilly, Ariella Cohen.

During their discussion, he explained his "faith in density," city growth and renewal post-pandemic, and his confidence in Schuylkill Yards. Regarding the 'false choice' of cities and Philadelphia, he correlates it to the "full-scale withdrawal of the federal government from urban policy and public housing [...] cities don't have the wherewithal to resist the pressures of gentrification" without support fr...

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks PAU for $100 million expansion

2020-12-23T17:02:00-05:00

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland on Friday released designs for a $100 million renovation and expansion, which would grow the museum’s footprint by a third with a dramatic addition to the original I.M. Pei building. The Rock Hall announced that the architecture firm PAU will lead the project, which will bring 50,000 square feet of programming space and a new band shell overlooking the shores of Lake Erie.

Besides modernizing the Rock Hall's existing I.M. Pei museum building and infrastructure, the expansion project will also add 10,000 square feet for large-scale traveling exhibits, open space for event and education programming, creation of a museum campus with the neighboring science center, a lakefront gathering place for Cleveland residents and museum visitors, and interactive learning classrooms among other features.

Image courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU).

Commenting on the competition win, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Founder and Creative Director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), said: "Rock and Roll—like NASA and pizza—brings us together like few other cultural phenomena at this moment when our nation needs to come together. We are beyond ecstatic to have been selected by the Rock Hall to design the expansion of I.M.Pei’s heart of glass, which sits aglow upon Cleveland’s storied industrial waterfront, particularly in light of the architectural lu...

Design plans released for Ford's Michigan Central site and Book Depository by PAU and Gensler

2020-11-20T12:16:00-05:00

At a community meeting this week, Ford Motor Company revealed the site plan for Michigan Central, a new walkable mobility innovation district in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood, as well as designs for some of the district’s first buildings. Ford’s multiyear development, including the restoration of the iconic Michigan Central Station, is underway.

Michigan Central site plan. Courtesy of PAU.

The 30-acre site plan was developed by lead architect and strategic planner Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). It will be a walkable community that is anchored by a train station. According to Ford, the new development will prioritize the needs of residents and businesses as well as the 5,000 employees who work there.

Vernor Plaza. Courtesy of PAU

Mobility Platform. Courtesy of PAU

“This project is about preparing Ford for another century of innovation and success,” said Mary Culler, Ford’s Detroit development director and Ford Fund president. “At Michigan Central, we are taking ...

Vishaan Chakrabarti assumes deanship at UC Berkeley CED

2020-08-04T15:29:00-04:00

Nearly 15 years after earning an M.Arch degree from the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design, architect, educator, and author Vishaan Chakrabarti has taken the reins of the college as its new Dean.

In a welcome note published to the school's website, Chakrabarti reflects on the "intertwined challenges" facing rising architecture and design students, explaining that "the world is at an inflection point like no other."

Previously on Archinect: "Deans List: Berkeley's Vishaan Chakrabarti on Rejecting the False Choices Embodied by Recent Architectural Pedagogies." Vishaan Chakrabarti is the new dean at the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. Image courtesy of Columbia University.

"From the righteous calls on city streets for racial, economic, and environmental justice; to the disproportionate impacts of this global pandemic on black and brown communities; to the promise and pitfalls of new technologies; to the fraying ...

PAU proposes multi-modal plan for Manhattan streets

2020-07-09T14:41:00-04:00

The Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has unveiled a plan envisioning how Manhattan's streets might transform to minimize auto dependency while embracing the widespread availability of dedicated bus and bicycle lanes as well as more generous pedestrian infrastructure.

The so-called "Not Your Car" (NYC) proposal envisions a future where private automobile use is drastically reduced in order to create urban fabric "focused on reappropriating public space back to people without the inequities and predation caused by the omnipresence of private cars."

A view of how city streets might change to accommodate new modes of traffic.

The scheme, developed under the leadership of PAU founder Vishaan Chakrabarti with support from Buro Happold, proposes to more or less get rid of on-street parking and private automobile traffic on most city streets, replacing this land-intensive arrangement with new pedestrian and public transit modes. Sidewalks would expand in width, street lanes forme...

Philadelphia's Schuylkill Yards mega-development takes a step forward with PAU-designed towers

2019-08-22T19:00:00-04:00

Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) and Brandywine Realty Trust have unveiled designs for a pair of aluminum-clad mixed-use towers in Philadelphia. The towers represent a key component of the 14-acre Schuylkill Yards mega-development that is currently taking shape in the city.

The towers, arranged as a pair of formal "cousins" that correspond to one another in terms of shape, bulk, and formal composition but differ in terms of size and use, are designed to evoke both "exuberant" and "classic" high-rise silhouettes when viewed from different vantages. Rising 512- and 360-feet respectively, the East and West Towers offer a mix of retail and office or residential spaces. Wrapped in regular grids of crab-colored aluminum window frames and spandrel panels, the two towers rest on a series of whimsical arcades that create a series of covered outdoor spaces and interior lobbies around the base of the towers.

The towers create a series of open and covered outdoor spaces around the...

PAU Studio unveils updated plans for Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn

2019-08-14T16:30:00-04:00

When the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) approved the conversion of the 137-year-old Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the development quickly became one of the most talked about construction projects in the borough. Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), the architects responsible for the visionary renovation, will return this week to the LPC with changes for its previously approved design.