Archinect - News

Your next role could be with preservation specialists of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan landmarks

2024-12-11T07:30:00-05:00

Following our previous look at an opening for a CNC programmer at OTTRA, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Preservation Architect at Architectural Preservation Studio, DPC.

The role, based in New York, calls for an individual with a background in historic preservation and building envelopes with at least 4-6 years of practical experience. Among the responsibilities for the role will be “building envelope investigation and analysis, report writing, preparation of design and construction documents with little supervision, construction administration, and field inspections for a variety of building types.”

Related on Archinect: Jenny Holzer restages 1989 projection piece at the Guggenheim in New York City. Photo: Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

Why the role interests us

The open role at Architectural Preservation Studio offers us the opportunity to explore the various high-profi...

General Motors mulls major Renaissance Center demolition in Detroit

2024-12-06T10:33:00-05:00

Multiple Detroit news outlets are reporting about the controversy swirling around a potential demolition of the city’s downtown Renaissance Center five-tower block as General Motors looks to secure public funds needed for a renovation. The company is apparently pursuing an all-or-not approach to its plan, which would author a pair of large-scale office-to-residential conversions while creating new public spaces. John Portman was its original designer.

Craig Wilkins of the University of Michigan told the Detroit Free Press: "The idea of 'if you don’t go with this, then we’ll just tear it all down; seems like extortion to me, and I don’t think the public should allow itself to be extorted."

The design of the complex has been criticized as being "anti-urban" and caustically apart from the life of the city since it first opened in 1977.

University of Salford confirms demolition plans for first Stirling Prize winner

2024-11-13T11:04:00-05:00

CNN has confirmed the planned demolition of Stephen Hodder‘s RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Centenary Building at the University of Salford. A spokesperson from the university told the network: "While the Centenary Building has been part of our university estate for a number of decades, unfortunately its ageing infrastructure means it no longer meets modern standards and requirements. It has now been vacant for a third of its built life."

Speaking to his former client's plans for the building, which was the first RIBA Stirling winner in 1996, Hodder told AJ: "For a university that promotes its sustainability credentials, the intention to demolish surely undermines the credibility of its policy. We urge it to reconsider, and hope the architectural community and wider industry collectively exclaim its concerns."

University administrators had previously floated the idea of repurposing it into a K-12 facility before deciding on the demolition.

Harvard GSD completes first stage renovation of Gund Hall

2024-10-30T09:26:00-04:00

The Bruner/Cott Architects-led renovations to Gund Hall at the Harvard Graduate School of Design has concluded its first phase after work began to rehabilitate the building’s envelope at the end of the spring 2024 semester.

Both building efficiency and occupants' comfort have been improved with better insulation and an increased quality of light in most spaces as greater accessibility was made possible on the outside with the addition of new handrails and guardrails. The GSD's faculty building committee chair David N. Fixler said it was "important that the GSD project a spirit of innovation but also of legacy, of stewardship, of respect for the historic quality of [the building]."

Fixler had also previously called the project an important teaching tool for students interested in the preservation of other important mid-twentieth-century structures.

Embattled Price Tower owner sues Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy

2024-10-23T12:21:00-04:00

The embattled owner of Frank Lloyd Wright’s landmark Price Tower in Bartlesville Oklahoma has filed suit against The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy in order to void liens which have been placed on the property, the New York Times is reporting. The nonprofit had previously taken action against the Copper Tree Group, which is managed by investor Cynthia Blanchard, in order to prevent sales of original furniture from the building that were under the protection of a preservation easement dating to 2011.

Blanchard's attorneys are repeating their original claims that the orders no longer pertain post-sale. The company is now seeking $75,000 in damages in addition to an injunction against the Conservancy for "interfering" with the sale of the building or furniture. In yet another complication, the Times reports its previously scheduled October 7th auction has been pushed back to November 18th in response to a separate lawsuit from a Tulsa-based developer who claims to have signed ...

Preservation group completes purchase of Marcel Breuer's 1949 Cape Cod home

2024-08-02T17:43:00-04:00

The fight to save Marcel Breuer’s former home on Cape Cod, the 1949 Wellfleet Cottage, has reached its conclusion after The Cape Cod Modern House Trust completed its purchase following a successful $1.4 million fundraising campaign. Breuer’s son Tamas was the homeowner at the time of the sale.

The house had reportedly degraded into what The Art Newspaper describes as “not in the best condition.” The Modern House Trust's spokesperson told the outlet: “Work begins on the restoration immediately.”

UK gov't cancels long-controversial highway tunnel project near Stonehenge

2024-07-30T16:59:00-04:00

The British government’s plans to construct a new two-mile underground tunnel near the Stonehenge UNESCO World Heritage site have been called off in what’s being framed as a major victory for preservationists.

The BBC has more on the late budgetary decision, which ends a yearslong legal back-and-forth between local campaigners and National Highways. The issue had, at one point, threatened its protected status. A campaigner with Stonehenge Alliance told The Art Newspaper: "This entire monstrous project, a proposal to drive a gash of concrete and tarmac through our most sacred prehistoric landscape, should never have got off the drawing board."

Massachusetts changes direction for reuse of Paul Rudolph's brutalist Government Service Center

2024-07-29T12:34:00-04:00

The planned reuse of Paul Rudolph’s oft-reviled Boston Government Service Center has taken on a new direction with a housing-focused proposal from the administration of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. The updated plan replaced a previously announced NBBJ overhaul that would have remade both the Erich Lindemann and Charles F. Hurley buildings into an office block with labs for scientific research. Now, with the demand for each shrinking, the state is poised to reroute the redevelopment to match its previous benchmarked demand for over 69,000 new homes by 2030.

The newly released press statement noted: “The site remains architecturally significant due to its unique mid-century design, and the Administration will prioritize historic preservation in the renewed redevelopment process.” A formal RFP for the new plan could come as soon as this year.

Moriyama Teshima Architects opposes 'shock' closure of Ontario Science Centre in new letter

2024-06-26T15:26:00-04:00

Moriyama Teshima Architects has provided a statement in rebuke of the sudden closure of its late founder Raymond Moriyama’s beloved Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. The closure was announced Friday by the provincial government, citing the need for repairs in many of its RAAC roof panels in the interest of public safety.

The issue is another salient note in the controversial Ford administration-led plans to remove the structure as part of the proposed redevelopment of Ontario Place and has been called into question by critics Alex Bozikovic and Elsa Lam. Each responded with the position that the government's reading of the engineers' report is wrong and meant to favor prospects for a new development.

"The Rimkus engineering report makes it clear that closing the OSC is not a necessity," the letter states decidedly. "Repairs are needed, but on a manageable scale and with potentially minimal impact on the public experience of the building."

List of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places for 2024 shows expanded 'collective idea of American history'

2024-05-01T18:31:00-04:00

The newly released list of the country’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2024 has been announced to include LA’s Little Tokyo district and the Walden Pond Reservation area in Massachusetts. The pair was joined by nine other sites in eight states, Morocco, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The full list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, includes:

Cindy Walker House, Mexia, Texas
Eatonville, Florida
Estate Whim Museum, Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, Athens, New York
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California
Minute Man National Historical Park, Walden, and nearby landmarks, Massachusetts
New Salem Baptist Church, Tams, West Virginia
Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana
Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses, Sitka, Alaska
Tangier American Legation, Tangier, Morocco
Wilderness Battlefield Area, Orange County, Virginia

Christopher Hawthorne previews the restoration of Philip Johnson's Brick House ahead of May reopening

2024-04-29T11:49:00-04:00

The reopening returns a certain architectural equilibrium to Johnson’s estate. The original paired structures, said Kirsten Reoch, who was named executive director of the Glass House campus last summer, “are two parts of a whole. Neither was conceived without the other. So the idea that we’ve been showing and interpreting half the story, it kind of blows your mind.”

The Glass House is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year with a special Paper Log House installation from Shigeru Ban and other public programs through the end of December. Yale’s senior critic Christopher Hawthorne visits the New Canaan, Connecticut, campus for a preview and says, “Bringing visitors back to the Brick House, with its resolute insistence on privacy, is an opportunity to explore the relationship of its architecture to Johnson’s homosexuality,” as well as an opportunity to reexamine its designer’s fraught politics.

The restored Brick House (whose work was overseen by the National Trust’s Mark Stoner) reopens to the public this Thursday, May 2nd.

Montrealers ask: What to do with the Olympic Stadium?

2024-03-28T13:45:00-04:00

But nostalgia rarely makes for good decision making. Keep the tower and repurpose it as a tourist destination. With the money saved, we can erect a better stadium serving the city’s current and future needs. Not all landmarks are sacred. When fire consumed the Notre-Dame cathedral, they raced to replace the roof; Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is not Notre-Dame.

Quebecers face a vexing choice: Keep the stadium or pursue an even costlier demolition that would erase the landmark, which late architect Roger Taillibert called a “poem in concrete,” owing to its location over two underground metro stations. The new, $870 million replacement roof that is being made transparent to let in natural light for the first time won't be completed by 2028. (The original Kevlar roof partially collapsed in 1999 and has suffered several smaller tears since being constructed in the late-1980s.)

Montreal has been floated as a potential location for a new MLB expansion franchise for the past few years. Our preview of the new BIG and HNTB-designed home of the relocating Oakland A's franchise in Las Vegas (another city that was on the league's expansion list) can be found here.

Sasaki will design new comprehensive master plan for Taliesin West

2024-03-26T16:54:00-04:00

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has announced its selection of Sasaki Associates to create a new comprehensive master plan for Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Plans for a new campus will guide the development of any new projects on the 620-acre campus (a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site) in line with the Foundation’s Taliesin West Preservation Plan from 2015. Their aim is to re-establish the site as a cultural destination for "future generations."

The site, which Wright settled with his third wife Olgivanna in the 1930s, had included a school that almost shuttered due to financial difficulties before reversing its decision and relocating to two sites in Paradise Valley at the start of the pandemic.

Photo credit: Andrew Pielage

The firm says: "The comprehensive plan for Taliesin West represents a significant step in ensuring the long-term preservation and vitality of this architectural masterpiece. By engaging with the site’s history and ecology, Sasaki’s plan will guid...

Miami Beach preservationists sound the alarm over concerning new building safety law

2024-03-26T15:04:00-04:00

The New York Times has picked a side in the fight between Miami Beach historic preservation advocates and developers supporting the recently signed Resiliency and Safe Structures Act, a law those in the former category claim will augment a devastating erasure of the local architecture character over time.

The rift that has for years played out amidst a backdrop that includes the tragedy at Surfside and a spate of new starchitect-designed developments on the nine-mile island has recent salients in the demolished Deauville Beach Hotel and the yet-decided fate of Miami Marine Stadium.

Advocates say the new law is a guise that uses climate change and building safety as its premise to usher in what is, in reality, a slate of insidious and destructive requirements. The Commercial Observer said they also work to "hamstring the powers of municipalities to dictate what can replace demolished structures."

New Yorkers are still pissed about disrupted view sheds and 262 Fifth Avenue

2024-03-10T08:00:00-04:00

“It really pisses me off,” Clark said while standing in the plaza in front of the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue, a few blocks south of the dueling skyscrapers. “The whole New York skyline has been destroyed. When I moved here I was thrilled with it, and now it’s just getting disgusting. These new buildings have no identity, no design to them. We’ve lost the character of New York, and it breaks my heart.”

The Guardian goes inside some locals' struggle against the new 262 Fifth Avenue condo tower by Meganom and SLCE Architects. The East Siders protesting their obstructed view sheds are also not in favor of its appearance or the design for 432 Park Avenue, including several inspired teen critics on TikTok.

NYT critic Michael Kimmelman also wrote of their plight last year, declaring theirs and other opposition attempts a noble attempt at restoring the city’s history in an era defined by zoning manipulation and visible inequality.

A preservationist named Jorge Otero-Pailos told Kimmelman last October that new regulations are needed to “guarantee a collective experience, a sense of shared identity and civic meaning, which can bind New Yorkers across generations and centuries.”

Preserving the legacy of William Sidney Pittman, the 'first Black architect of Texas'

2024-02-28T12:23:00-05:00

Many of his designs sit within historic Black neighborhoods with African American historical and cultural institutions. At the Glen Oaks Cemetery in South Dallas, Pittman’s grave marker reminds visitors why his buildings are significant points of interest—after all, he was the “first Black architect of Texas.”

The building legacy of William Sidney Pittman, who arrived in Dallas from Washington, D.C., right before World War I, stands at only seven surviving structures. UT Austin School of Architecture assistant professor Tara A. Dudley says: “His arrival provided African Americans in Texas access to a professional architect within the race — as opposed to relying on white architects as most did — and who, as a Black man, understood the needs and requirements of the African American community.”

Pittman, who was also a tremendously incisive polemic writer and early inspiration for Paul Revere Williams, died in March of 1958 with a portfolio of fifteen completed buildings in the state. Dudley and others are now ardently at work preserving his legacy there and in D.C. (where his 1912 Anthony Bowen YMCA design still stands). As she tells Texas Highways, “[His] work needs to be preserved for future generations as a testament to his significance in the profession of architecture in the U.S. in th...

Banksy murals to be digitally preserved as part of new UK art database

2024-02-09T14:28:00-05:00

Art by the famous artist Banksy is to be included in a new initiative to document the UK’s murals. As reported by The Art Newspaper, the project will see more than 5,000 murals from across the UK digitally recorded for access in a free public database.

The project is being overseen by the educational charity Art UK with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The three-year initiative will see public works recorded by a network of volunteer researchers and photographers, alongside documenting the stories behind the pieces.

“The location of murals, the circumstances behind their creation, and the materials used to create them can result in this type of artwork being ephemeral in nature,” Art UK says about the project. “Buildings and housing estates are demolished to make way for new developments meaning that many murals have been lost. We will record the murals as they look now, to provide a record if they are removed, defaced, or suffer environmental damage.”

Related on Arc...

Explore images of Shubin Donaldson’s completed restoration of Richard Neutra’s Mariners Medical Arts building in Orange County

2024-01-05T09:00:00-05:00

An overlooked design from one of Southern California’s most respected midcentury designers, Richard Neutra’s Mariners Medical Arts building in Newport Beach, California, was restored thanks to Los Angeles-based ShubinDonaldson.

The project for client Burnham-Ward Properties sought to bring the three-pavilion design as close to its original appearance as possible. Key elements include the re-installation of water features that had been removed in the early 1970s.

Image © Benny Chan/fotoworks 2023

ADA accessibility upgrades, new drought-resilient landscaping, LED lighting, and other environmental improvements were equally vital in achieving the developer’s aim to once again establish Neutra’s design as an architectural superlative of the Orange County enclave.

All images: © Benny Chan/fotoworks 2023

“Having admired Mariners Medical Arts for decades, it has been an honor for me to be part of the team trusted to restore the building as originally designed by Neutra,” Shubin Donaldson Pr...

Notre Dame’s plans for contemporary stained-glass windows spark cries of ‘vandalism’ in Paris

2023-12-26T14:53:00-05:00

Plans for the contemporary replacement of some of the stained glass windows inside Notre Dame Cathedral’s damaged interior have sparked a considerable outcry from the public a year before the Parisian landmark is set to begin reopening in the wake of the destructive 2019 fire.

Calls for a new competition to design windows for six of Notre Dame’s seven south aisle side chapels has led to a petition signed by 120,000 people urging the French government to reconsider on grounds that they would distort the originality of architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s 19th-century expansion, according to a report from The Guardian.

The new window designs would replace what emerged from the catastrophe undamaged and are therefore considered important relics of the blaze by heritage experts and other conservation specialists. Nevertheless, the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, requested the French state’s approval of new windows, a solicitation President Emmanuel Macron then threw his office’s suppo...

Another Banksy mural destroyed after the building it was painted on was demolished

2023-12-01T17:41:00-05:00

A mural painted by Banksy which first appeared not long after Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) has been destroyed after the building it was painted on was knocked down. The artwork, said to have been valued at around £1m, first appeared in the coastal town of Dover in 2017, the year after Britain voted to leave the union in a controversial referendum.

The mural, located on the side of the Castle Amusements building, depicted a worker chipping away at one the 12 stars on the EU flag. In 2019, the mural vanished after it was whitewashed. And, now, despite efforts to potentially restore the work, the building it was painted on has been demolished as part of a regeneration project. Prior to the building’s demolition the Dover City Council (DCC) determined that the Banksy could not have been conserved without major costs to local taxpayers.

Previously on Archinect: Banksy's latest mural on abandoned UK farmhouse has been demolished

That being said, the Council has said that its contractor, DDS Demolition, is exploring ways to preserve the artwork in any way. As reported by CNN, the demolition firm has said that pieces of the Banksy have been retrieved and are currently “being assessed.”

Los Angeles Conservancy CEO Linda Dishman explains the resurgence of preservation efforts in the last 30 years

2023-11-03T17:38:00-04:00

Preservation has really become more of a commonly held value. I think of my first years, when we were fighting to save the Herald Examiner building. Fighting to save the Ambassador Hotel. Fighting to save the May Company. The Herald Examiner was going to be torn down for a parking lot, which seems so strange now. But that’s how little value people placed on these buildings and their history.

Linda Dishman’s tenure at the helm of the Los Angeles Conservancy has seen major gains for the preservation of Paul Revere Williams’ nearly forgotten legacy, the LA Coliseum, and several important Welton Becket designs, among other newsworthy accomplishments. Adrian Scott Fine will replace her in December. Dishman said she anticipates a better climate for her predecessor, adding that she personally counts the Ambassador Hotel’s demolition and preservation of the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana downtown as the LAC’s biggest wins and losses, respectively.

Palm Springs Art Museum announces the Aluminaire House's public opening and permanent exhibit

2023-09-29T18:07:00-04:00

The Palm Springs Art Museum has shared an update on the future of the Aluminaire House three years after acquiring the Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher masterpiece to its permanent collection.

The home, which had been lingering in a local storage space since 2017, will now be reassembled and displayed in the museum's south parking lot. ADA compliance mandates had postponed the project even further after the museum was forced to refabricate many of the materials used in its construction, an effort that was not made possible until recently thanks to an ongoing $2.6 million capital campaign effort. According to the museum, $2.3 million in funding has been generated so far.

The house will be erected and placed on view in February 2024, following the opening of a retrospective exhibition of Frey’s other modernist designs around the Coachella Valley on January 13, 2024.

Aluminaire House™ on-site at Palm Springs Art Museum, 2023. Rendering by Claudia Cengher | Courtesy of the Palm Sprin...

Renovations complete on Einstein Tower, observatory built to represent Einstein's theory of relativity

2023-09-29T18:03:00-04:00

A solar observatory built to substantiate Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity has been reopened near the German capital after a renovation project to preserve it for future generations. [...] “The Einstein Tower might no longer be at the forefront of research, but it’s not a mere museum piece [...] Following its renovation it’s probably now in a better condition than it was when it was inaugurated almost 100 years ago”

Located on Telegraph Hill in Potsdam, 16 miles southwest of Berlin, Einsteinturm (Einstein Tower) underwent a year of renovations to address its many cracks and extensive dampness, and to preserve its domed zinc roof. The restoration cost approximately $1.2 million.

The structure was built between 1920 and 1922 by German-British architect Erich Mendelsohn in collaboration with astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich. The approximately 66-foot tower was designed to represent and verify Einstein’s theory of relativity. It is considered a landmark in expressionist architecture, with its lack of right angles, organic form, and curved wooden staircase. Originally planned in concrete, a lack of materials after the First World War meant it was built using stucco-covered brick.

The tower is still in operation today as a working solar observatory, run by the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics (AIP). In addition, the working telescopes are the original ones installed nearly a century ago.

...

Venice to begin seeking €5 daily admission fees from tourists

2023-09-07T12:02:00-04:00

The ability for Venice to charge a nominal €5 ($5.35 USD) daily entrance fee to tourists has been granted to the city, giving officials the final go-ahead for a response they say is ultimately necessary to preserve its architectural heritage from the threats of climate change and overcrowding.

The city council’s decision comes after a protracted debate over its implementation since the idea was first introduced in 2019. CNN has reported the experiment will start first with a 30-day trial period before being formally adopted early next year, limited to only the “peak days” of the busy tourist season. The likely result is for the quality of life of residents to be improved, proponents say while encouraging other popular international destinations to potentially follow suit.

“The message we want to put across is that Venice is open, but visitors must understand that we need proper planning to manage the balance between residence and tourism,” Councilor Michele Zuin said in a statement....

Marcel Breuer's Wellfleet Cottage is at the center of a preservation battle on Cape Cod

2023-08-24T12:12:00-04:00

Campaigners seeking to save Marcel Breuer’s 1949 Wellfleet Cottage residence on Cape Cod have launched a $1.4 million fundraising effort aimed at saving the home from an expected demolition that’s likely to come in the next few years.

The Cape Cod Modern House Trust is spearheading the effort and says the home they have agreed to purchase from Breuer’s son is in danger adding to the tally of historic designs in the area they have been unable to save through preservation since 2016.

The house was at one time a haven and meeting place for Bauhaus alumni and intellectuals associated with Breuer and his wife Connie. The architect himself designed a large art studio addition in 1961 before adding another apartment and darkroom for his photographer son Tamas in 1968. The Trust says its sale will include all of the home's original furnishings (including pieces from the Eames' and Eero Saarinen), art collection, and private library, which will all be made available to public view after the ...

The struggle between green design and architectural history hangs over the renovation of one Bangkok icon

2023-08-11T18:40:00-04:00

A Bangkok landmark known as the “robot building” has been stripped of its identity, heritage campaigners have said, as they called for the city’s distinctive architecture to preserved. [...] Campaigners have urged the bank to find a way to improve energy efficiency while maintaining the facade’s unique design. They say the lack of legal protection for the building underlines the broader need for changes to how sites of special importance are identified and preserved.

The Guardian tells the story of the Sumet Jumsai-designed near-iconic "Robot Building" at the heart of Bangok’s bustling commercial district. The 37-year-old structure has been undergoing renovations at the hands of Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB), irking fans and preservationists who feel its character is being taken away with the wholesale removal of its original facade and, possibly, other key architectural elements which have made it so distinctively part of the capital's visual landscape.

The bank contends its work is necessary for the well-being of employees and to reduce energy consumption. What could result from the fray is a possible change in the structure of preservation, which mostly favors ancient monuments in the country. Air rights can still be sold to developers, which are in part the target of reform efforts. The saga also touches on the need for greater architectural education for the public, an issue which aided in the demise of Tokyo's Nakagin Capsule Towe...

Ohio State researchers use machine learning to create 3D digital models of lost historic neighborhoods

2023-07-21T12:38:00-04:00

A team of researchers from The Ohio State University has developed a machine learning technique that converts old urban maps into three-dimensional digital models. According to the team, the models could potentially revolutionize research involving historic neighborhoods and the economic impact of their demolition.

The study, recently published in the journal PLOS ON, involved extracting and digitizing data from Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. The maps, created during the 19th and 20th centuries and frequently updated, were used by fire insurance companies to estimate their liabilities in about 12,000 U.S. cities and towns.

"We now have the ability to unlock the wealth of data that are embedded in these Sanborn fire atlases," said Ohio State Geography Professor Harvey Miller, a co-author of the study. "It enables a whole new approach to urban historical res...

London’s landmark Marks & Spencer department store gets a new life after court ruling

2023-07-20T17:26:00-04:00

A number of prominent architects had previously voiced their support for retrofitting the century-old store ahead of the inquiry, which began last October at the bequest of Secretary Michael Gove. Gove cited a concern for neighboring landmarks in the vicinity as part of his decision to strike down the retailer's demolition scheme in addition to its potential "lifetime carbon usage."

According to a report today in Bloomberg CityLab, "Marks & Spencer Group Plc will review its future as a fixture on London’s Oxford Street after losing government backing for a plan to demolish its flagship art deco store and rebuild a modern replacement [...] The case is a major win for the campaign group, which argued the 'handsome' building should be retrofitted rather than demolished, on the grounds that it would have a much lower environmental impact."

Advocates, including SAVE Britain's Heritage, hope the ruling will establish precedents by which the future of two dozen or so other "high street ti...

MIT's 'Ways of Seeing' project offers scholars renewed access to four important cultural sites in Afghanistan

2023-07-05T14:24:00-04:00

A new research project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has produced a useful documentation of four hard-to-access multireligious architectural heritage sites in Afghanistan using a combination of digital renderings, satellite imaging, crowdsourced data, and XR technology.

MIT News recently profiled the school’s “Ways of Seeing: Documenting Endangered Built Heritage in Afghanistan” effort, which was the product of multiple departments and research centers within the university. The project was led by MIT’s Sociotechnical Systems Research Center director Fotini Christia, who said it “combines field data, technology, and art to protect heritage and serve the world” in a true evocation of the university’s cross-disciplinary collaborative tradition.

The end result produced two open-access digital archives co-managed via Archnet and MIT Libraries by the Aga Khan Documentation Center and Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Class of 2006 M.Arch graduate Jelena Pejkovic contributed ...

SFMOMA acquires Nakagin Capsule Tower pod

2023-06-13T19:37:00-04:00

A unique piece of architectural history is headed to America following the purchase of a remaining Nakagin Capsule Tower pod by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

The LA Times’ Carolina A. Miranda was first to report on the museum’s acquisition last week, which she said will join examples from fellow adherent to Metabolist architecture Fumihiko Maki and photographer Noritaka Minami (who documented his life inside the tower from 2010 to 2021) in the museum’s collection.

The A1302 capsule is one of just 23 preserved through the Tatsuyuki Maeda-led Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project and was personally owned by the building's architect Kisho Kurokawa himself, before his death in 2007.

Earlier on Archinect: Nakagin Capsule Tower capsules see new life following building's demolition in 2022

"It’s so rare to collect a 1-to-1 scale piece of architecture. It can fit inside, outside, and that’s phenomenal for us," the museum's architecture curator, Jennife...