Archinect - News

Workers unionizing, celebrity collabs, and remembering design icons — the top highlights of November 2019

2019-12-29T09:00:00-05:00

Creating lasting positive impact through one's work is a big aspiration for many an architect. The month of November was dominated by practitioners who work ceaselessly to move the profession forward toward a better future — whether it was remembering a pioneering architect's decades-long legacy, more diverse scholarships, the ongoing fight for better affordable housing, workers unionizing, or challenging age-old educational approaches. And not to mention the occasional high-profile celebrity wanting to dip their toes into the world of design. In no particular order, here are the news and features highlights of November 2019 on Archinect.

NEWS

'Lair' book explores the radical homes and hideouts of movie villains

Photo courtesy of Tra Publishing.

From “Blade Runner 2049” to “The Spy Who Loved Me” to “The Incredibles”, the book “Lair” by Miami-based architect Chad Oppenheim and editor Andrea Gollin is a fun journey into the architectural designs of villain's lairs from 15 films.

LeBro...

Printing cars, mourning Jencks, changing skylines, and luxury dildos, October 2019 was one for the ages

2019-12-28T16:00:00-05:00

October was an action-packed month this year, as the architecture world grappled with the loss of noted historian and theorist Charles Jencks, Design Intelligence unveiled its annual list of "most admired" architecture schools, and Architecture practice Wolfgang & Hite reinterpreted the structures of Hudson Yards as "a luxury real estate dildo experience," among many other highs and lows.

News

Image by lasersterling (YouTube).

↑ Father and son team 3D-print a Lamborghini

A father and son team took $20,000 and a whole lot of YouTube-fueled know-how to create a 3D-printed Lamborghini. The pair used a custom made steel chassis and a Corvette engine to help bring the idea to life.

Charles Jencks's "The Century is Over, Evolutionary Tree of Twentieth-Century Architecture" diagram. Image courtesy of Charles Jencks.

↑ Charles Jencks, historian of late-modern architecture, dies

An icon of architectural history and theory, Charles Jencks passed away in October, leaving behind a trove of texts...

August gave us super tall records, Kanye, and the architect of the world's ugliest buildings

2019-12-26T09:00:00-05:00

August held a special place for tall architecture, broke architecture students, and some interesting developments with Kanye West. Let's dive into the big hits of this year's August roundup.

Rendering of Rainier Square Tower

↑ Seattle's second-tallest skyscraper is almost complete

The 1.7-million-square-foot NBBJ-designed tower reached 722 feet in height back in August, marking its surpassing of Seattle's former second tallest building, 1202 Third Avenue. Due to be completed in 2020, the tower will sit at 850 feet tall, with Columbia Center, at 937 feet, as the only tower taller in Seattle.

Rendering of the completed Central Park Tower, image via @centralparktower/Instagram

↑ Central Park Tower breaks Willis Tower's record 45-year claim to highest roof in the Western Hemisphere

Surpassing the 1,450-foot-tall Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), the Central Park Tower rose to a gravity-defying 1,550 feet, giving it the highest roof title in the Western Hemisphere. The project is due to...

Kanye's Doomed Domes, Climate Emergency, and Zumthor Optimism: July 2019 on Archinect

2019-12-25T09:00:00-05:00

Congratulations! You've made it past the halfway mark of Archinect's 2019 Year in Review series where we revisit the biggest, and some of our favorite, stories in the news this year.

Let the binge reading continue — this was July:

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN CULTURE

Courtesy of Los Angeles County Public Works

↑ Kanye West is building domed housing in pursuit of breaking down class barriers

Oh Kanye. After some yet to be materialized YEEZY Home renderings surfaced in 2018, the artist and architecture enthusiast, for a brief moment in time, took a whack at solving the housing crisis (bravo) but ultimately underestimated the power of building permits (yikes).

Still from Fight Club

↑ Burnout, and the Architecture Work Culture

While certainly not exclusive to the architecture industry, our community of students and professionals is finally beginning the long-overdue conversations about burnout, health effects, and the architecture work culture in general. Sean Joyner takes a closer look.

CLIMATE...

In June we featured great practitioners, new and old, embraced the sneaker, and lost an architectural godfather

2019-12-24T09:00:00-05:00

In June, Archinect connected with many prolific professionals, saw several interesting milestones within the industry, and some novel collaborations. Let's check out some of June's 2019 highlights.

Alan Manning at the Los Angeles Art Walk

↑ How One Designer Taught Himself to Draw and Became an International Artist

Alan Manning is an LA-based designer and artist. He first decided he wanted to learn to draw back when he was an architecture school. Taking a trip abroad to Barcelona, the young designer vowed not to return home to the States until he could draw. Manning spent the first 6 months sketching all day everyday, building his skills quickly and solidifying his confidence in his ability. Archinect talked with the designer-artist about his world travels, his professional work, and his ambitions for the future.

View of the spiral staircase designed by King at the Alabama capitol. Image courtesy of The Library of Congress.

↑ The Story of Horace King, Slave-Turned-Architect

Amid the hi...

Archinect in May: The rise of young architects, tall buildings, architectural photography, remembering I.M. Pei, and tips on personal development

2019-12-23T13:04:00-05:00

With the summer season kicking off, the month of May was filled with new tall towers breaking ground, amazing architectural photography, rising architects, and some tips on personal development. However, the month also brought the loss of a beloved architectural icon. Check out what May 2019 was like on Archinect.

Architects on the Rise

Julia Koerner. Image © Ger Ger

↑ A Conversation With Julia Koerner, Architecture’s Queen of 3D Fabrication

The Austrian architect and designer has taken the architecture world by storm with her groundbreaking work in digital fabrication. Her expertise on the subject has positioned her as the "Queen of 3D Fabrication." Much of her work reflects architecture's growing crossover between fashion and rapid prototyping. Archinect chats with Koerner about her work in academia, 3D printing, fashion, and Hollywood.

Caspar David Friedrich. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1818.

↑ 19 Young Architects on Why They Decided to Start Their Careers With Their Own Firms

F...

Celebrations of influential figures, anticipated project completions, and relatable design journeys — here are the highlights of March 2019

2019-12-21T10:33:00-05:00

March 2019 looked to the past and potential future of the architectural field. There were tributes to influential figures, revisiting the beginnings of one's own design journey, and long-awaited major projects finally coming to life. We also highlighted historical appointments to leadership roles at institutions across the country, practical advice on life after architecture school, groundbreaking technology with possible design applications, and emerging women designers who are positively impacting the future of architecture. In no particular order, here's a recap of the people, places, and things that shaped March 2019 on Archinect.

NEWS

Women in Architecture Awards announces Sheila O'Donnell as 2019 Architect of the Year and Xu TianTian as winner of the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architects

Sheila O'Donnell (L) and Xu TianTian (R). Image via O'Donnell + Tuomey and Eric Gregory Powell (WSJ).

The yearly Women in Architecture Awards spotlights inspiring women who continue to pu...

Tiny Homes, 3D-Printing Black Panther, Green New Deal, and Woodstock Gehry: February 2019 on Archinect

2019-12-20T15:43:00-05:00

With this tumultuous year finally coming to an end, let's take a look back and dig through some of the most exciting and stand-out news and feature stories on Archinect during the month of February.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN CULTURE

Elm, by Tumbleweed, Tiny House Company

↑ Tiny homes are fitting symbols of economic precarity

We didn't expect "tiny-houser millennials" to be a thing one day either, but in 2019, they just seemed to be everywhere. The scope of motivations behind the movement is anything but tiny though.

3D-printed costume for Queen Ramonda character, collaboration Julia Koerner with Ruth E. Carter/ Marvel 2018

↑ Architect Julia Koerner blends design, technology, and fashion to help Black Panther win an Oscar in best costume design

Black Panther, released in 2018 and Oscar-awarded in the following year, moved the cultural needle in so many regards. Contributing to the Academy Award-winning costume design by Ruth E. Carter was Austrian-born and LA-based architectural educator a...

Archinect in January 2019: A month of shutdowns, building sales, architecture's academic crowd, and a farewell to a midcentury design pioneer

2019-12-19T13:36:00-05:00

In order to reflect upon the year, let us start at the beginning. Although January 2019 was a rocky month for the U.S. amid the government shutting down, that didn't stop the architecture community from staying busy during the month. From defining a thesis, architecture sales, pondering over rhetorical questions and saying goodbye to a legendary woman, here is a list of stories featured on Archinect during the month of January.

Government Shutdown and Other Things Closing

↑ A Conversation with Rusty Long, State Architect, Furloughed by the Government Shutdown

Many were affected by the government shutdown. Hearing its impact from a state architect painted an interesting picture as to how political architecture can get.

NAICM aerial visualization. Rendering: Dbox.

↑ Construction work on partly built Mexico City International Airport officially suspended

Mexico City's International Airport made headlines with its construction plans. However, the $13 billion infrastructure project may n...