Archinect - News

'We all did': The Los Angeles Times' Patt Morrison on who authored the fate of LA's long-lost streetcars

2021-11-03T12:01:00-04:00

Red Cars didn’t just get people from Point A to Point B. They helped to create Point A and Point B. Towns like Burbank and Alhambra grew spectacularly once the Red Car reached them. Other sellers of land wised up and made sure their advertising told prospective buyers how to get there by Red Car; so did merchants and amusements. The system made even the farthest towns and neighborhoods feel connected.

The trolley system was not entirely undone in part by the nefarious hand of some elite corporate entities with decided interests in seeing an alternative to the then-burgeoning interstate highway system destroyed. Movies like Clint Eastwood's Changeling (2008) and (my favorite) Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) do a more-than-adequate job presenting the system as a great democratic uniter of Los Angeles’ proletariat, which is how many people view the defunct system correctly or incorrectly six decades after its operation was shut down.

The city is currently working on an expansion of its modern-day equivalent — the Metro — that will vastly increase access to the city’s Westside via a series of new Purple D line stations that will terminate near the campus of UCLA. The present east-to-west commute is considered to be one of the worst in Los Angeles county. The city is expecting 78,000 daily commuters on the line once construction is completed in 2027.

LA’s Little Tokyo Metro-owned site due for development

2019-10-22T10:43:00-04:00

At a community meeting last week, four developers pitched plans for a Metro-owned property above the under-construction 1st/Central subway station in Little Tokyo...Though the station site is 1.2 acres, the property only offers a 14,500-square-foot building pad due to the diagonal orientation of the 1st/Central station box.

"Metro released a request for qualifications to prospective developers in August 2018, and received eight responses by January 2019," reports Urbanize. Of those eight, four have moved forward: Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), who has teamed up with FSY Architects; Centre Urban Real Estate Partners in collaboration with Stantec and Kritzinger & Rao; Kaji & Associates, teaming up with Kengo Kuma & Associates and Gruen Associates; and Innovative Housing Opportunities.

Kaji & Associates' pitch. Designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates. Courtesy of Metro

A first look at Los Angeles' upcoming $500-Million Metro transit station

2018-10-25T17:26:00-04:00

The project, called 96th Street Station, is being designed with swooping canopies, skylights, and glazed screens to create a spacious environment for travelers...

After much anticipation, progress for the 96th Street Transit Station has made leaps and bounds in its development stage. Metro's new transit station aims to connect the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to its regional transit system.

View of the planned light rail platforms. Image courtesy of Grimshaw Architects.

Grimshaw Architects and Gruen Associates have been working on the multimodal transit station since the project was approved in June 2014. The station was designed to be the new "gateway" to LAX for transit riders. After an in depth environmental review process, 46 day public hearing, and additional reviews from the Metro Board of Directors the station was set for development.

Daytime view of the station. Image courtesy of Grimshaw Architects.

The new transit hub is set to feature three at-grade Light Rail Transit platforms that will serve the Metro Green and Crenshaw/LAX lines. The station will also feature a Metro Bike hub, passenger vehicle pick-up and drop-off ar...

SOM completes three new Brightline Florida rail stations

2018-06-06T16:08:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) together with Zyscovich Architects and Rockwell Group, have completed three new stations for Brightline, Florida's new public transit rail service.

The largest private infrastructure development in the U.S., Brightline focuses on revitalizing downtown Miami while connecting nearby cities. Its three stations (Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Miami) are all now in full operation.

The three terminals consist of spaces to shop, eat, and meet with interiors designed by Rockwell Group. The firm aimed to unify the stations’ designs by exposing their structural V-shaped bracing, and by bringing in natural light through ample use of glass.

...

HASSELL, Rogers Stirk Harbour, Weston Williamson design five new Melbourne metro stations

2018-05-31T15:54:00-04:00

Melbourne has consistently been ranked the world's #1 most livable city (often sharing the top spot with rival Vienna), and city planners hope to strengthen this position with a new metro tunnel set to open in 2025.

Five new stations, along with bicycle facilities, new parks, open spaces, and public plazas, will dot the tunnel line and boast architectural design that is the result of a collaboration between Australian architects HASSELL and UK firms Rogers Stirk Harbour and Weston Williamson.

The new stations are:

North Melbourne Station

North Melbourne Station

Project description: "North Melbourne Station has an impressive large-scale brick arched entrance to reflect the area’s industrial heritage and skylights to enable natural light to filter down on the platforms and concourse."

Parkville Station

Parkville Station

Project description: "In Parkville, a glass feature roof at the Grattan Street entrance provides passengers visiting this world c...

Cost of the Long Island Rail Road project balloons to be the most expensive in the world

2017-12-29T15:57:00-05:00

The estimated cost of the Long Island Rail Road project, known as “East Side Access,” has ballooned to $12 billion, or nearly $3.5 billion for each new mile of track — seven times the average elsewhere in the world. The recently completed Second Avenue subway on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and the 2015 extension of the No. 7 line to Hudson Yards also cost far above average, at $2.5 billion and $1.5 billion per mile, respectively.

Against the back drop of the New York subway system's massive delays, the New York Times looks into why project costs for a 3.5-mile tunnel connecting Grand Central Terminal to the Long Island Rail Road ballooned to nearly $3.5 million for each new mile of track.

Cuomo suggests a plan to allow private sponsorships of NYC subway stations

2017-07-27T18:18:00-04:00

During the speech, Cuomo suggested that one way to get more funding for the ailing transit system would be to offer companies the opportunity to sponsor subway stations for an annual fee. That money could go toward “enhanced maintenance, additional security, and aesthetic features.”

The practice of letting corporations put their stamp on the subway has precedents— in 2009, the MTA sold the naming rights for Atlantic Ave–Pacific St station in Brooklyn to Barclays, which according to NY Times, gets MTA $200,000 per year for the next two decades.

However, many crucial aspects of Cuomo's proposal, like maintenance of stations, are still unclear. MTA chair Joe Lhota said that the details of the plan are still being worked out.

It’s easy to see a corporation fighting to put its name on Union Square or a similarly well-trafficked station; but will stations deep in the outer boroughs then go ignored? Similar issues play out in city parks, where those with deep-pocketed donors—the High Line, Central Park, etc.—are well-maintained, while those without … well, not so much.

During that same speech, the governor also announced that the new Tappan Zee Bridge—renamed the Mario Cuomo Bridge will have its grand opening (presumably with a flashy light show) on August 25.

...

Man Writes 91 Songs About the Washington, D.C. Metro System

2017-06-13T17:28:00-04:00

It took six years, but every subway station in the Washington, D.C. area is now immortalized in song. For musician Jason Mendelson, it’s his magnum opus.

The Magentic Fields wrote 69 songs about love; professional tax manager and sometime musician Jason Mendelson has managed to record 91 songs about the Washington, D.C. Metro system, with one song for each subway stop.

Map of the Washington, D.C. Metro.

While music critics will not be equating these two works anytime soon, it's rare for an entire transportation system to be memorialized in song (although [Get Your Kicks On] Route 66, along with Kraftwerk's Autobahn, come to mind). It's worth noting that Mendelson doesn't play favorites: in the video accompanying the article, he proclaims that "There are no boring commuter stops."

With opening of Expo Line to Santa Monica, L.A.'s dream of a "subway to the sea" finally comes true (again)

2016-05-20T20:32:00-04:00

The $1.5-billion second leg of the Expo Line, which opened Friday from Culver City to Santa Monica, adds seven light-rail stations and more than six miles of track to the growing Los Angeles County transit network. [...] In the immediate context of L.A.'s attempts to turn its public-transit network from national punch line to something that increasingly resembles a mature system, 13 new Metro stations in less than three months qualifies as a pretty dramatic upgrade.

The aggressively expanding LA Metro system in recent Archinect news stories:

Waiting for the Washington Metro: A not-so-fictional tale

2016-04-27T20:27:00-04:00

The train will not come because the track does not exist, says the voice on the loudspeaker. You must believe as hard as you can. Everyone on the platform ignores him. Your belief is not enough. It has never been enough. Construction has just begun on the new Fuchsia Line, which Metro management says will solve all the system’s problems, and which is the only thing that anyone has allocated any funding for. It is entirely under water and plated in gold. It will be completed in 18 years.

Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post pens a maybe not-so-fictional tale about the “horrors” of the current state of the Washington Metro, which shut down last month.

Will LA's new metro extension bring growth to the city's peripheries?

2016-03-10T20:33:00-05:00

When City Manager Oliver Chi looks across Station Square next to the new Gold Line stop in Monrovia, he doesn't see a dilapidated train depot. He sees a bustling restaurant. Where an empty lot now sits, he sees a five-story apartment complex. That old lumber house? A bustling food hall. Los Angeles County's growing light-rail network plunges deeper than it ever has into suburbia this week with the opening of the Gold Line extension linking Pasadena to Azusa.

Obsessed with infrastructure? Take a look at some related coverage:

Jakarta, the world's largest city without a subway, is drowning in traffic

2016-01-19T08:00:00-05:00

Since 2000, the world’s second-largest megacity, Jakarta, has seen its population swell by a staggering 34 percent. Though the city proper is home to just 10 million, the urban zone is home to 30 million [...] “Jakarta is the largest urban metropolitan area in the world without a metro,” he [Deden Rukmana] says. “And a metro is the most crucial element of transportation for a megacity. There’s no way it can exist otherwise.”

Gorgeous long-exposure shots of the Montreal Metro

2015-11-03T13:16:00-05:00

This is the work of Canadian architectural photographer Chris Forsyth who has been sharing his pictures on Instagram, looking to show how beautiful design is all around us. [...] "What draws me to the architecture in the metro system is its variety from station to station. I love the colours, the architectural styles and influences, and above all its very bold graphic appearance." [...] Forsyth uses long exposures to blur the motion and to remove traces of people passing through the shot.

For more work by the architectural photographer, you can follow Chris Forsyth on Instagram @chrismforsyth, with more shots of the Montreal Metro through #mtlmetroproject. View a selection of photos below:

Omaha to improve its Metro (for free!)

2015-05-27T20:22:00-04:00

At the end of May, Metro will debut its FORWARD plan: a fully reconfigured bus network that emphasizes more frequency, better night and weekend service, direct lines through high-ridership corridors, and grid-style access to many parts of the city. The top five routes will now all get 15-minute peak service... Rather than lobby for more taxpayer funding or jack up fares, Metro looked for more efficient ways to use its existing resources.

Geology and the Art of New York City Subway Construction

2014-11-03T13:27:00-05:00

The Second Avenue Subway is the stuff of legend in New York City, the locomotive who cried wolf. Plagued by funding shortages, the project has been stop-and-go since the 1920s. Now construction is back to go; in late September, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) [...] requested $1.5 billion [...]. Michael Horodniceanu, head of construction for the MTA, has stated that the long-awaited line may be ready by 2029. In the meantime, the MTA is learning about, and acting on, geology.

UNStudio reveals latest designs for the new Doha Metro Network in Qatar

2014-09-18T20:50:00-04:00

After Qatar Rail appointed UNStudio as principal architect, the Dutch firm revealed their designs for the new Doha Metro Network, a major component of the Qatar Integrated Railway Project (QIRP). In an effort to motivate more Doha locals to use public transit, UNStudio's design of the Metro Network consists of traditional Qatari-inspired elements and four transportation lines — with an estimate of 35 stations for Phase 1, followed by around 60 stations for Phase 2.

Quite interesting that UNStudio released these designs at a time when Qatar has been making headlines as of late...

NYC Can't Afford to Build the Second Avenue Subway, and It Can't Afford Not To

2014-07-17T13:36:00-04:00

In New York City history and lore, the Second Avenue subway is the Loch Ness Monster crossed with the Abominable Snowman. Politicians, transit planners, and everyone in between have witnessed this East Side subway line face countless stops and starts [...] And yet, the Second Avenue line has become a beacon for New York's future and a symbol of the numerous challenges facing a global city that must, in light of massive costs and slow build-outs, expand its transit network to stay competitive.

L.A.'s "People St." initiative puts public place-making into the public's hands

2014-02-13T14:27:00-05:00

Communities can transform underused areas of L.A.’s largest public asset—our 7,500 miles of city streets—into active, vibrant, and accessible public space with People St, a program of the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). Eligible Community Partners can apply for approval to create projects that enhance the quality of life in this city. Three innovative types of projects are available: Plazas, Parklets, and Bicycle Corrals.

Los Angeles began piloting its "People St." program in 2011, developing spaces designed to reclaim sections of streetspace for public recreation and use, rather than car traffic. The projects were few but popular, including the Sunset Triangle (designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios) plaza in Silverlake, a couple of parklets in Downtown, and bike corrals in Atwater Village and Highland Park. Led by LA's Department of Transportation and invigorated by LA's current mayor, Eric Garcetti, the program will accept applications for "People St." initiatives by any eligible community group, beginning this March.

The program is designed not only so communities can individualize their surroundings and make their city more livable, but for LADOT to expedite city improvement projects. Initiatives that otherwise would have taken years of planning and hundreds of thousands of dollars become faster and cheaper to execute, led by the people most in touch with the project site, and approved by city of...

Paris' "ghost stations" could be revitalized as galleries, swimming pools, restaurants

2014-02-07T14:42:00-05:00

The Paris Métro, opened in 1900, extends over more than 200 kilometers of track, serving more than 300 individual stops. But there are 11 more stations that, though once built, now stand nearly abandoned. Many of these "ghost" or "phantom" stations shuttered after the occupation during WWII. [...] Parisian mayoral candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet has a bold plan for these phantom stations ... these abandoned spaces should be reclaimed for the city's residents.

Working alongside mayoral candidate Kosciusko-Morizet, architect Manal Rachdi and urban planner Nicolas Laisné composed a few renderings of what the stations could become under the proposal. Featuring Arsenal, one of the stations closed since 1939, here are a few potential uses:

Night club:

Restaurant:

Art gallery:

Theater:

All images via NKM Paris, from Oxo architects + Laisné Architect.

AIA Twenty-five Year Award given to Washington D.C., Metro

2014-01-14T13:31:00-05:00

Still standing strong after its opening in 1976, the Washington D.C. Metro rail system designed by architect Harry Weese was deemed the recipient of the AIA's Twenty-five Year Award. The award recognizes a structure that demonstrates architectural resilience for 25-35 years. The structure must also show excellence in function, execution of its original program, and creative aspects in accordance with today's standards.

These are a few of the D.C. Metro's stations.

Find out more about the D.C. Metro on Bustler.

MTA Video Release: Hurricane Sandy - South Ferry and Whitehall St Station Damage

2012-10-30T20:50:00-04:00

MTA Video Release: Hurricane Sandy - South Ferry and Whitehall St Station Damage.

Gleaming new CTA station raises question: What price architecture?

2012-05-29T13:55:00-04:00

A safe, clean, on-time ride. That's all most of us expect from the Chicago Transit Authority. But why not ask for something more? Station architecture that puts zing in the journey and elevates the city around it. That's what we get at the crisply modern new Morgan "L" station on Chicago's Near West Side.

Editor's Picks #263

2012-05-07T16:49:00-04:00

Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph. Steven Ward, hoped “mr diana will now get behind this decision and determine how best to renovate to meet the needs of the community...score one for preservation of the modern!"

News
Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph, a late-1960s building in the small Hudson Valley town that sparked debate on the value of modern architecture. Steven Ward, hoped “mr diana will now get behind this decision and determine how best to renovate to meet the needs of the community. ...the fact that the local government's elected representatives have taken this position is a huge deal, an indicator that they are hearing that the community wants to keep this special place. score one for preservation of the modern!” and Scribbler argued “We have to keep a few of these so that we have real examples of the variety, forms, and experiments modernism has made so that we have a record to remind us to not do this kind of modernism again". Donna Sink, for her part agreed “Even if one doesn't find this building beautiful (which I definitely do!), it's important to history to kee...

Review: Lackluster Expo Line reflects Metro's weak grasp of design

2012-05-02T15:46:00-04:00

Designed primarily by Roland Genick, chief architect for rail and transit systems at Parsons, the huge Pasadena-based construction conglomerate, the new stations are topped by undulating light-blue canopies of perforated metal panels that are not only dated — bringing a public-art project from the early 1990s to mind — but provide almost no shade or rain protection. Or solar power, for that matter, though from certain angles the stations look a bit like they're covered with photovoltaic panels.

Metro Blue Line is the route for `traveling circus' plays

2011-07-06T20:23:20-04:00

William Shakespeare wrote plays in five acts; now comes Watts Village Theater Company, organizing a theater piece in five light-rail stops. Dubbed "Meet Me @Metro II," it'll be performed along the Metro Blue Line between Watts and downtown Long Beach over the coming two weekends.