Archinect - News

Now Central Park has a (temporary) solid gold cube installation courtesy of a German artist

2022-02-02T17:30:00-05:00

This morning, joggers in New York’s Central Park may have come across a curious, rather illustrious sight. A cube composed of 186 kilograms of pure 24-karat gold, conceived by the German artist Niclas Castello who has billed it as a conceptual “socle du monde” (base of the world) sculpture for our time, was wheeled out to the Naumburg Bandshell this morning at around 5:00am.

The one-day installation has its own security detail and will sit aptly in the Gilded Age landmark designed by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted before a turn as the guest of honor at a special celebrity-laden private dinner being held later this evening on Wall Street. A special kiln had to be created in order to pour the tremendous volume of 2,012° F melted gold ore required for the 410-pound piece. The dimensions of the cube are about the size of a typical footstool, although its weight means it is worth over $11.7 million according to Wednesday’s market prices.

Photo: Sandra Mika/HoGA Capital AG

The installation coincides with the launch of a new NFT and not-at-all gimmicky cryptocurrency that the artist calls The Costello Coin. The project is meant to “be seen as a sort of communiqué between an emerging 21st-century cultural ecosystem based on crypto and the ancient world where gold reigned supreme.” Some might view its viral social media reaction as a preview of the splas...

10 new examples of metal in architecture

2019-02-01T14:19:00-05:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Metal.

↑ HOME in Paris, France by Hamonic+Masson & Associés with Comte Vollenweider; Photo: Takuji Shimmura/Milène Servelle

↑ House in Peconic Bay, NY by Mapos Architects, DPC

↑ 5300 McConnell in Los Angeles, CA by ShubinDonaldson; Photo: Benny Chan

↑ Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT by Ennead Architects

↑ Formosa1140 in Los Angeles, CA by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects; Photo: Lawrence Anderson

↑ SculptureCenter in Long Island City, NY by Andrew Berman Architect; Photo: Michael Moran/OTTO

↑ Rio Vista Residence in Dallas, TX by Buchanan Architecture; Photo: Charles Davis Smith, FAIA

↑ Parametric Car Garage in Berk...

From shiny to rusty: 10 impressive examples of metal in architecture

2018-03-02T09:00:00-05:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Metal.

↑ DA Residence in London, UK by deDraft; Photo: Whitaker Studio

↑ 437 Madison Avenue in New York, NY by Fogarty Finger Architecture PLLC

↑ Hay Barn in Somis, CA by SPF:architects

↑ TreeHouse in Portland, OR by LEVER Architecture

↑ Sunac Chongqing One Central Mansion Sales Pavilion in Chongqing, China by aoe; Photo: Ligang Huang

↑ Raif Dinckok Cultural Center in Yalova, Turkey by EAA-Emre Arolat Architecture; Photo: Cemal Emden

↑ The Tillary Hotel in Brooklyn, NY by Cl-oth Interiors

↑ Parker Arts, Culture & Events Center [PACE] in Parker, CO by Semple Brown | Architects & Designers; Photo: Ron Pollard Photography

↑ Orsman Roa...

Gold and eagles, Trump's makeover of the White House

2017-08-24T14:40:00-04:00

A real dump,” is how Donald Trump is said to have described the White House he inherited from the Obama administration. For a man used to inhabiting a penthouse fantasy land of golden columns, heaving chandeliers and cherubs tumbling from the ceilings, the decor at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue must have seemed a bit drab. So he took the opportunity of his summer vacation to call in the decorators for a $3.4m (£2.6m) overhaul, the results of which have been unveiled this week.

Perhaps because the president and his family don’t spend much time living in the White House, the interior changes, at least so far, have been few. Nevertheless, Trumps' recent redecorations include noticeable features like a change in wallpaper— from Obama's yellow candy-stripe to, handpicked by Trump, creamy grey damask affair, and gold drapes with gold-hued upholstery. In "bringing back the lustre and the glory” to the place, replacement of the plain Obama-era carpet was also initiated— the 6,000 meters of the new carpet feature “a floral medallion inspired by the White House architecture and the Rose Garden”.

As Oliver Wainwright writes, "The outside of the White House has been spruced up and stripped back too, given the same liberal dousing of bleach as the interior." In place of the timeworn stone steps of the South Portico staircase, are now brand new treads, "giving them the look of one of the many Chinese McMansions modeled on the White House, rather than the real thing its...

The Guggenheim will install a fully functioning solid gold toilet

2016-04-20T22:17:00-04:00

... instead of its standard Kohler toilet, it will have a solid 18-karat-gold working replica of one, a preposterously scatological apotheosis of wealth whose form is completed in its function: You could go into the restroom just to bask in its glow, Mr. Cattelan said, but it becomes an artwork only with someone sitting on it or standing over it, answering nature’s call.

Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian artist who famously retired five years ago, has returned with a solid gold (and fully functioning) toilet for the Guggenheim Museum. Perfectly paired with the late Tobias Wong's Gold Pills.

Neutelings Riedijk Architects propose these flamboyant golden glass and steel towers for defunct Moscow auto plant

2015-10-15T13:31:00-04:00

Developers have released design plans for the housing element of the Moscow ZiL industrial zone redevelopment. According to RBK Realty magazine, nine architecture firms from Russia, the USA and the Netherlands will be working on housing in the redevelopment of the former automobile factory, located in the south of Moscow. [...] The building presented by Dutch agency Neutelings Riedijk Architecten consists of 10 towers, each with a golden glass and steel facade.

While the grand ZiL redevelopment scheme includes various buildings assigned to architectural firms including Asymptote Architecture, bureau Speech and Sergey Skuratov Architects, it's Dutch studio Neutelings Riedijk Architecten's exuberant, soviet-chic, and certified blingy towers that caught our attention.

"The new high-rise building consists of five connected premium residential towers on top of a three stories high public plinth building with shopping, health spa and restaurant facilities," the architects told us. "The facade has a striking tectonic surface composed of diamond shaped, steel/glass elements. The plinth building is organized around a central court, covered with a spectacular glass dome. The building is located alongside the park, at the new main boulevard, adjacent to the future Hermitage Moscow museum."

Previously on Archinect: Asymptote to design Hermitage satellite museum in abandoned Moscow factory

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