Archinect - News

Pascale Sablan, Kofi Bio, Lucy Tilley announced as new co-CEOs of Adjaye Associates

2024-03-18T14:59:00-04:00

Adjaye Associates has announced the promotions of three new CEOs in an organizational restructuring that will see founder David Adjaye step into a new role as the Executive Chair of the group and the firm's Principal.

Pascale Sablan, Kofi Bio, and Lucy Tilley will now lead the New York, Accra, and London studios as CEOs, respectively. Sablan, most recently the 2023-24 NOMA President, is perhaps the best-known architect of the group. She will impart her past experience as an Associate Principal in the New York office, which she first joined as a Senior Associate in January of 2021. Her time there has coincided with a host of important national recognitions, including being named winner of the 2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award.

Bio and Tilley both have experience as Associate Prinicapls in the Accra and London studios, respectively.

In a statement published to the firm’s website, Adjaye said: “Today’s announcement reflects a fundamental change in the way Adjaye Associates will now be r...

O-S Architectes redesigns local Jacques Carat Theater in Cachan, Paris

2018-10-25T15:36:00-04:00

Back in 2011, O-S Architectes won the competition to restructure and expand the Jacques Carat Theater. Located in the Cachan commune in Paris, the original theater was built in 1988 and inaugurated the following year. The theater's restructuring was completed last year and now comprises of two simple volumes, which are organized around the existing central auditorium.

Photo: Cyrille Weiner.

The first volume is a transparent building with multiple openings and the foyer, which then leads to the auditoriums in the second volume. Composed of terracotta elements, the second volume envelopes the project like a “stage curtain”. The theater entrance is like “an outstretched hand that prompts and guides visitors, [and] is marked by a fold that paces the length of the façade,” O-S Architectes says.

Photo: Cyrille Weiner.

The ground floor includes a spacious reception area, two auditor...

On decentralizing the Olympics

2016-07-21T14:23:00-04:00

More broadly, this reconfiguration would make the games, for the first time, a truly global event. Dozens of countries that could never afford to host the Olympics in their current form – Kenya, Thailand, Chile, to name a few – might easily host a single Olympic sport. Rather than being an occasion for nationalistic displays by a single, powerful host country, the Olympics would become a celebration of human diversity.

With overwhelming evidence that hosting the Olympics is a huge burden for several cities, Paul Christesen, a Professor of Classics at Dartmouth, makes a case for the possible advantages of having Olympic sports competitions take place in different cities throughout the globe. He also makes suggestions on how decentralizing the Games can be carried out to other aspects of the event.

Architecture for Humanity begins crowdsourced rebranding campaign

2015-09-04T15:33:00-04:00

Nine months after abruptly shutting down and filing for bankruptcy, Architecture for Humanity has begun a campaign in efforts to rebrand itself as a "collectively defined, collaboratively run, and inclusive" non-profit. Launched Tuesday, the AFH Chapter Network is gathering opinions and ideas worldwide in the form of video responses in a short survey until September 8. Participants will answer questions on how the new AFH should restructure its mission, value, and goals.

Once the responses are collected, the AFH Network will search for key findings alongside brand strategists at Skyrocket Digital and then work towards finding a new name for the organization.

The AFH Network posted their reasons for rebranding in a generalized list on WordPress:

A few reasons why we’re looking for a new name: We are a new organization: While the mission remains similar, we are focused on consensus building, professional development, and support for local groups to develop innovative business models w...

MVRDV approved to redesign the '70s Vandamme Nord block in Montparnasse, Paris

2015-02-25T15:28:00-05:00

MVRDV officially got the green light from the City of Paris for their plans to restructure the Vandamme Nord at Gaîté-Montparnasse in Paris' 14th arrondissement. Built in the early 1970s by French architect Pierre Dufau, the mixed-use complex is located on a triangular island bordered by Rue Mouchotte, Avenue du Maine, and the rail tracks to Gare Montparnasse.

The Vandamme was once a landmark as one of the largest urban projects at the time, but -- with dying malls continuing to be the norm -- its glory days faded away as it failed to keep up with a changing urban society.

Aiming to renew a sense of place within the Montparnasse district and improve public accessibility, MVRDV plans to give the building a new façade as well as completely reorganize and open up the building's internal program. The complex will be broken up into a collection of "boxes" inserted in the existing structural frame that will vary in size, program, color, and materials, and will also be flexibly designed for...

LAN chosen to restructure iconic Grand Palais in Paris

2014-03-04T21:48:00-05:00

The historic Grand Palais is due for a contemporary touch-up from French firm LAN, who recently won the competition to restructure and expand the monument...Looking beyond the museum's Beaux-Arts style, LAN highlights the museum's durability and flexibility in an effort to bring out the building's full potential.

Have a glimpse of LAN's winning proposal below:

Drawings:

Find out more on Bustler.