Archinect - News

Beijing's big air slope offers Olympics viewers a captivating example of adaptive reuse

2022-02-08T15:55:00-05:00

Freeski big air opened its Olympic competition Monday at the world’s first permanent, city-based big air facility, a repurposed steel mill on the west side of Beijing that’s made a stunning backdrop for one of the Games’ newest sports.

The venue is the one-time home of a steel production facility that was shuttered ahead of the 2008 games to create a generally greener picture of the country to Western news outlets. Its former grounds have been transformed into a greenery-laced headquarters for the games’ Organizing Committee, with an additional industrial sound-installation infused multi-use museum and office development occupying its former blast furnace.

The transformation of the site will eventually include the overhauling of one of its ominous cooling towers into a wedding venue. The Copenhill-esque slope is slightly larger than similar structures seen in Boston and Atlanta and is noteworthy as the first venue to host the newly-added event, which has been described as a “high-risk home run derby for snowboarding and freestyle skiing.”

Is Snøhetta's "7th room" 2017's coolest (literally and figuratively) treehouse?

2017-01-19T14:10:00-05:00

Snøhetta's "7th Room" is an addition to the previously existing Treehotel in Northern Sweden. The tree-canopy-level, snow-blanketed room features a pretty cool assortment of sleek furnishings and views, whether you're standing on the ground looking up, or lounging on the fur-lined chairs looking out.

In addition to the tree that grows through the cabin, the arrangement of the rooms, centered around a netted terrace, gives "7th Room" a hyper-sophisticated treehouse vibe.

Restricted Areas: abandoned Soviet structures photographed in all their eerie beauty

2016-07-25T20:24:00-04:00

Danila Tkachenko is a Russian photographer whose series Restricted Areas crystallises the tendencies of many artists working on themes of the post-Soviet space. As Calvert 22’s Power and Architecture season demonstrates, there is a healthy interest in the abandoned or neglected buildings that once served as landmarks of Soviet ambition: the rack and ruin of utopia. What sets Tkachenko apart is the unforgiving simplicity of his compositions.

All photos from Danila Tkachenko's series Restricted Areas. For far more of these beauties, head over to Calvert Journal.

"The Hole Idea" celebrates the simple joys of creating "spontaneous architecture"

2015-04-01T15:16:00-04:00

Architectural design can be as playful as a child's imagination and still be taken seriously. Coated in a sunny yellow and candy-colored circular openings, "The Hole Idea -- Now in Technicolor" in Winnipeg is a snow tunnel that may seem like a kids-only zone at first glance, but is an engaging installation that can spark the curiosity of anyone who is trudging by in the snow. Since it was first installed in January after winning the popular Warming Huts 2015 competition, The Hole Idea has attracted visitors of all ages. The project's success continues with its recent win of an Ontario Association Of Architects Award.

Designed by Toronto-based Weiss Architecture + Urbanism, the playful concept for The Hole Idea -- which was named after a 1955 Looney Tune animation of the same name -- evokes childhood memories of Saturday morning cartoons, colorful playgrounds, and building snow forts.

The firm worked alongside Blackwell Engineering and the Canada Culvert fabrication team to complete th...

$450K panel of glass at Apple’s iconic 5th Avenue ‘Cube’ store shattered by snowblower

2014-01-22T14:21:00-05:00

Several readers are reporting that a snowblower has accidentally knocked into and shattered one of the large glass panels at Apple’s iconic 5th avenue Apple Store. That’s one of 15 panels, and those large slices of glass were installed a couple of years ago.

Like nature's tracing paper

2014-01-21T21:24:00-05:00

For urban planners, the attention paid to snowy neckdowns is a welcome one - and one that could bring on change without much cost or risk.

Kate Dailey talks with advocates for safer streets who say massive snowfall can help illustrate how pedestrian conditions can be improved.