Archinect - News

Leading Architects Become Harvard Alums with this Executive Development Program

2024-03-21T14:55:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education

Created for global leaders in the built environment, the Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate (AMDP) at the Harvard Graduate School of Design leverages the school’s resources to help participants reach the absolute pinnacle of their profession. The intensive one-year program with five weeks spent on campus brings participants into contact with industry leaders from around the world via on-campus sessions, site visits, and project-based learning, culminating in graduates being granted Harvard alumni status.

This article features insights from three program alumni, Trusted Inc. Founder and CEO Michael Peters, Class of 2015, Unico Developers Principal and Co-founder Fernando Levy Hara, Class of 2010, and Raouf Advisory Founder and Chief Advisor Hussam Raouf, Class of 2017, to get an inside look at this unique educational and professional growth opportunity.

“The Most Exclusive Real E...

Architects for Gaza launches Gaza Global University for afflicted Palestinian students

2024-03-18T18:07:00-04:00

The UK-based group Architects for Gaza, appealing to the educational needs of displaced Palestinian architecture students in the occupied territory, has just announced the creation of a new learning platform called Gaza Global University.

The announcement was made earlier this month via Instagram. The group says: "We know that to rebuild Gaza requires rebuilding its institutions, its culture, its life — and importantly for those of us not situated in Gaza — it requires a rebuilding of all our worlds. We see Gaza Global University as a radical pedagogical project rooted in hope and shared humanity."

According to the group's website, the objectives for developing the initiative include:

Establishing links with academic institutions internationally to offer online tutorials and lectures free of charge Gazan students in any part of the world, who are students of architecture, and related courses, such as design and urbanism.
Offering technological assistance for remote communication at...

CAW Architects completes Oakland urban farm project to deliver 30,000 school meals

2024-02-16T12:05:00-05:00

Palo Alto-based CAW Architects has completed a food-orientated educational project in Oakland, California. Named 'The Center,' the scheme comprises a central kitchen, culinary arts education center, and an urban farm, all designed to provide 30,000 fresh-cooked meals each day to 77 schools across Oakland.

Image credit: Bruce Damonte Photography

The project is anchored by a large outdoor court, shaded under an expansive wood trellis. Designed as a central hub to connect the kitchen, classrooms, and instructional garden, the courtyard is accessed from the classrooms by large glass roll-up doors, creating a natural circulation flow from the classrooms to the courtyard to the gardens and greenhouse.

Image credit: Bruce Damonte Photography

The classrooms include a full-service demonstration and teaching kitchen, in addition to a student education space, with intended users spanning early childhood to young adults...

Philadelphia’s Center for Architecture and Design rebrands as DesignPhiladelphia

2024-01-31T19:51:00-05:00

Philadelphia’s Center for Architecture and Design has revealed its rebranding as DesignPhiladelphia, according to an announcement the educational nonprofit made public recently.

The name change heralds an expansion of services as an organization, which has been open to the public since 2002. AIA Philadelphia will continue as an anchor tenant, joined by the Community Design Collaborative, PhilaNOMA, Design Advocacy Group, Creative Mornings PHL, and eight new design associations as Residence Partners.

“The new name, DesignPhiladelphia, represents our commitment to inclusivity and collaboration across all design fields, including graphics, interiors, and more. Our programming: Design Education, the Festival, the Edmund N. Bacon Urban Design Awards, and the Louis I. Kahn Lecture will all continue underneath the new DesignPhiladelphia brand,” an FAQ on the Center’s website reads.

Former K-12 Architecture and Design Education programming will now be called simply Design Education progra...

MVRDV and Van Boven Architecten complete high school alma mater renovation in the Netherlands

2023-09-29T14:56:00-04:00

MVRDV has announced the completion of their Van Boven Architecten co-designed Gymnasium Beekvliet renovation project in the Netherlands.

The alma mater of both Winy Maas and Theobert van Boven was once the nation’s leading catholic seminary and was later used as an internment camp for political prisoners of the occupying Nazi regime during Worl War II before being modernized into a new grammar school in the early 1970s.

“I went to school at Beekvliet myself, as did one of my children, and my wife is also a teacher there. These connections strongly motivate me to design a unique and special building that does justice to the school’s rich history,” van Boven said in a preview last year.

Image: © Daria Scagliola/MVRDV

Located in the village of Sint-Michielsgestel near Eindhoven, the school now features a unifying new auditorium addition at the center of the school that’s meant to improve circulation. An existing classroom building and plaza area were also renovated. Ian Kirkpatrick, a C...

The world's best architecture masters programs for 2023, according to BAM

2023-09-19T17:51:00-04:00

The 2023 edition of the Best Architecture Masters (BAM) rankings has just been released, featuring a slate of 19 graduate programs from across the world that were selected using an internal methodology by a 15-member “Expert Committee” of academics.

American Ivy League institutions once again dominated the top tier of the rankings, with Harvard GSD’s Master of Architecture II program taking home the first place spot for the fifth consecutive year. BAM says its list was influenced by other rankings guides, including the most recent QS World Universities Architecture / Built Environment subject list, in addition to its internal methodology, adding: “This approach allows us to make an international-comparative study, that reflects the best architecture master’s programs from almost all over the world.”

The Universidade de São Paulo, University of Manchester, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Tsinghua University were new additions to this year's list.

The full BAM rankings...

New 'Architecture for kids' podcast shares resources on the best engagement practices for children

2023-08-22T15:20:00-04:00

A new podcast series aimed at enhancing educators’ ability to teach architecture to school children is now available thanks to a collaboration between the UK's Built Environment Trust, Thornton Education Trust, and the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University.

Hosted by Architecture for kids CIC founder Antonio Capelao, the ten-episode series engages with various practitioners, academics, and other experts in design education who are working at the field's leading edges with the long-term goal of encouraging wider participation in the built environment from a young age.

The producers share: "These short and to-the-point podcasts hope to improve the interplay between the fields of the built environment and education as we share knowledge between the practitioner, the creative, and the primary school teacher. Exploring how to prepare children and young people for economic, environmental, and societal challenges, and for their professional lives according to today’s needs an...

Landscape architecture is now officially a STEM discipline, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

2023-07-12T17:03:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated degrees in landscape architecture as a science, technology, engineering, mathematics (or STEM) discipline upon the advice of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), announced by the organization today (July 12).

The designation helps both academics and practitioners in the expanded field gain recognition for the scientific nature of their work, which increasingly helps both government and private interests mitigate against the impact of climate change while performing other tasks that are critically important to the health and safety of the environment for citizens throughout the country.

"The STEM designation finally reflects the reality of the discipline of landscape architecture. Our work is fully dependent on science and technology, from understanding soils at the level of microbial interactions and nutrient exchanges, which keep our urban canopy alive, to coastal adaptations informed by continuously evolving ...

The Met unveils designs for new children's learning center ahead of September opening

2023-06-14T18:49:00-04:00

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has set a date for the opening of the new 81st Street Studio children’s education space created by KOKO Architecture + Design.

This September 9th will see the daylong dedication festival for the new learning center, which takes over a renovated space in the museum’s Harold D. Uris Center for Education. The 3,500-square-foot design will offer free activities to children ages 3–11 and their caregivers, offering itself as an “interactive space that reimagines how the Museum can inspire exploration of its encyclopedic collection, amplify curiosity, and create new experiences for The Met’s youngest visitors.”

Museum director Max Hollein says: ”This is a project that was made possible by so many and with strong support to create something unique for our younger audiences.”

Rendering: Brick Visual. Image: KOKO Architecture + Design, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Education is a critical — and very exciting — part of The Met’s mission, ...

UK plans ‘fundamental overhaul’ of architectural education and training

2023-02-09T11:46:00-05:00

The UK’s Architects Registration Board (ARB) has unveiled plans to overhaul the country’s system for educating and training architects. Under the plans, currently out for consultation, the existing Part 1, 2, and 3 system would be replaced by a requirement for only two accredited qualifications; one based on academia, and one based on practice.

The current pathway to becoming an architect in the United Kingdom typically involves students obtaining an undergraduate qualification in architecture to satisfy ARB’s Part 1 criteria, a master's qualification in architecture to satisfy the Part 2 criteria, and a final diploma in architectural practice to satisfy the Part 3 criteria. The resulting pathway involves five years of study, and two years in practice before becoming a licensed architect, though it takes many individuals more than the minimum of seven years between commencing their education and joining the register.

The new system would see the Part 1, 2, and 3 route replaced by a ...

CriticalProductive: New journal on culture, arts, and architecture to be launched by former USC Dean Milton S. F. Curry

2023-01-25T11:56:00-05:00

Former USC School of Architecture Dean Milton S. F. Curry has announced the creation of a new architecture journal. Titled CriticalProductive, the peer-reviewed print and digital academic journal will be released three times per year by MIT Press and will be “invested in the intellectual project of culture, arts, and architecture.”

Curry is joined in the magazine’s production by program and editorial assistant Grace Cillo. Other names associated with the journal’s editorial include Cornell associate professor Lilly H. Chi, Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, and UCLA city-LAB director Dana Cuff.

“It is a place where cultural theorists, designers, architects, urbanists, artists, humanists, and activists reflect on contemporary culture and experiment with provocative ideas on how to disrupt normative paradigms, activate and catalyze new potentials, and utilize...

A new white paper from RIBA outlines pathways for architecture students and emerging architects

2023-01-13T18:22:00-05:00

On January 11, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) published a new white paper examining potential solutions to cultivate a more diverse, skill-based educational environment and subsequent pathways into the profession.

The paper identifies a series of impactful steps to be taken in response to the slate of issues that are outlined. Among the most prevalent issues that the paper hammers on are the length of time it takes for architects to complete Part 3 of registrations, an expensive and outmoded process that RIBA says has surpassed its originally-intended 7-year window to 10 years and comes at a cost that’s increasingly over £100,000 ($122,310). In order to combat this restrictiveness, the organization recommends:

Continuing the growth of different educational models such as apprenticeships and collaborative practice along with the development of alternatives for non-UK graduates, with a simple test of competence used to access the register and RIBA Chartered membersh...

Zaha Hadid Architects reveals new Science Centre project in Singapore

2022-12-05T17:34:00-05:00

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has shared project details for its new Science Centre in Singapore.

According to a press announcement released today, the design includes five interconnected rectangular volumes defined by large "monocle" windows that offer views of neighboring Jurong Lake Gardens. Features include a network of discovery trails and an enhanced Children’s Gallery that offers twice as much room as the space provided in its predecessor.

Rendering: Negativ, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

An "Eco-Lab" and "Eco-Garden" will serve as part of the museum’s educational offerings, while programmable rooftop spaces, an observatory, and a Digital Fabrication Lab all provide students with the opportunity to learn about topics like vertical farming.

Rendering: Negativ, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

ZHA says it hopes to attain a BCA Green Mark Platinum rating for the project with the help of atelier ten and Architects 61...

UNC Charlotte’s architecture school to be renamed following alumnus donation

2022-11-28T13:11:00-05:00

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s School of Architecture is to be renamed the David R. Ravin School of Architecture following a donation from the school’s alumnus David Ravin. The donation, whose amount has not been disclosed, will be used to support students, pay for international studies, and finance university initiatives.

Ravin graduated from the school in 1994 with a BA in Architecture before attending the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, he is the president and CEO of Northwood Ravin, a development, construction, and property management firm.

The new David R. Ravin School of Architecture sign. Image © Jacob Scannell/Courtesy of UNC and David R. Ravin School of Architecture.

David Ravin photographed during the Ravin School of Architecture Announcement Ceremony (2022). Image © Jacob Scannell/Courtesy of UNC and David R. Ravin School of Architecture.

"There is no right answer in architecture,” Ravin remarked at a ceremony ...

NYC announces $1.6 billion life sciences campus development in Manhattan

2022-10-18T17:29:00-04:00

New York City has announced its plans for a new $1.6 billion life sciences campus to be located on the east side of Manhattan and administered in partnership with the City University of New York (CUNY).

SOM has been attached as the project lead for the SPARC Kips Bay development, which will transform the Brookdale Campus of Hunter College into a 1.5-million-square foot center for research, entrepreneurship, and education geared at local economic benefits and training young New Yorkers for careers in tech and the health sciences.

According to a press release, the project’s scope includes:

NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue ambulatory care center.
NYC Health + Hospitals simulation training center.
DOE high school with a special focus on preparations for healthcare and other STEM careers.
A new Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) Forensic Pathology Center that will be a "nation-leading training facility for forensic pathologists."
Commercial office and laboratory space for the life scienc...

BIG unveils new education complex master plan overlooking the North Sea

2022-08-27T09:00:00-04:00

BIG has just released details for a new project called Masterplan Esbjerg Strand in Denmark they say will host a “completely new education platform that will rethink the traditional education system and campus in the country.”

The initiative will entail the creation of a 90,500-square-meter (974,000-square-foot) multi-use green roof structure sited along the Jutland coastline and placed on an elevated platform 7 meters (23 feet) above the ground to gird against the effects of sea level rise.

Image courtesy of BIG

The firm shares: “As part of an ambitious vision plan Esbjerg of the Future Vision 2025, the city will grow its population and become an attractive educational city; have skilled labor for all; become a sustainable energy monopoly; a digital hub of Northern Europe; become a strong tourist destination on the Wadden Sea with optimal conditions for entrepreneurs.”

Image courtesy of BIG

BIG recently completed its nearby Marsk Watchtower project and will look to further enhance th...

New York to ban construction of schools near highways

2022-07-12T09:00:00-04:00

The New York State Assembly and Senate have passed a bill barring the construction of schools within 500 feet of a highway. The Schools Impact by Gross Highways Act (or SIGH Act) was written to protect school-age children from air pollution.

Under the bill, which will also apply to New York City, the New York Commissioner of Education will only be allowed to approve plans for a new school within 500 feet of a highway if they determine that space is so limited that no other site would be available.

Archinect Feature: Smog City: The Fight Against Urban Air Pollution

According to a recent analysis by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), approximately one-third of New York’s students attend a school within 500 feet of a road whose daily volume exceeds 30,000 cars. Approximately 80% of these students are students of color, and 66% are low-income.

“Decades of racial segregation, redlining, and the systemic placement of pollution-emitting infrastructure in Black and Brown communiti...

New Compton High School, featuring a Dr. Dre-sponsored performing arts center, officially breaks ground

2022-05-10T14:57:00-04:00

Construction has officially commenced on the new DLR Group-designed Compton High School in California. Designers, dignitaries, school district leaders, staff, students, and community members came together on May 7th to celebrate the groundbreaking.

The 126-year-old school has a rich history, well known for producing music and athletic prodigies. DLR Group’s design celebrates this legacy through a new campus with a dynamic learning environment that aims to elevate education for both students and educators. The design solution is centered around learning suites that foster project-based learning, student exploration, general instruction, and relationship building. In addition, the learning suites will allow for interdepartmental collaboration. They are designed as separate suites that can be linked together with moveable walls that open and close, allowing students and faculty to customize their spaces to support a variety of learning activities.

“This school represents yet another si...

Frank Gehry reveals an upgraded design for Downtown LA's transformational Colburn Center

2022-03-16T21:27:00-04:00

The musical fabric of Los Angeles is about to get a significant boost from one of its most famous creative backers after Frank Gehry’s updated plans for the Colburn School were made public for the first time in a live-streamed ceremony at its downtown campus earlier today.

Renderings reveal a 100,000-square-foot expansion of the school’s existing facilities into what will be called the Colburn Center, a dynamic new set of interlocking performance venues and public spaces that will couple with a generous set of scholarship programs to further enhance the 72-year-old school’s educational and artistic offerings.

The project is an integral part of the architect's mission to transform the Downtown Los Angeles landscape beginning with his iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall up the street and culminating with his latest, directly adjacent mixed-use addition called The Grand. Gehry worked together with longtime collaborators Michael Ferguson and Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagat...

Zaha Hadid Foundation announces new leadership and museum effort

2022-03-07T20:14:00-05:00

The long-awaited inaugural phase of what will eventually serve as the future home of London’s Zaha Hadid Foundation (ZHF) is now set to go after the organization announced a new museum and research center initiative slated for two locations in the adopted hometown of its late namesake.

The two sites will be split between the former location of London’s Design Museum at Shad Thames, which was acquired by ZHF in 2013, and the studio’s longtime Clerkenwell home in Bowling Green Lane, which it vacated last year citing concerns over workspace limitations during COVID.

Together they will house a collection of more than 10,000 objects including paintings, sketches, furniture, fashion design, jewelry, models, and other media that are all either directly from or related to the life’s work of the first woman ever to win the Pritzker Prize.

Furthermore, the foundation announced the appoi...

Winy Maas transforms his former high school with colorful swooping addition

2022-02-03T13:41:00-05:00

MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas and Theobert van Boven of Van Boven Architecten are leading the transformation of their old high school Gymnasium Beekvliet in the Dutch village of Sint-Michielsgestel.

The main element of this design by the two alumni is a colorful, flowing addition that reaches out into the school’s plaza and improves circulation, creating a new focal point at the heart of the building. In addition, the space exhibits artwork by artist Ian Kirkpatrick throughout.

The initial mission of the project was to renovate the existing school building. The brief also called for a new auditorium, more space for regular school activities, and additional art and culture facilities to provide students with a challenging and stimulating learning environment while offering them more spaces to gather. To meet this demand, the design extends the existing roof structure and lowers it to ground level, closing the building’s circulation routes and forming a distinct entrance.

The sw...

Audio issue of architectural journal "Attention" released

2022-02-01T19:21:00-05:00

Architectural journal “Attention” has recently released an innovative all-audio issue of the publication, titled "Community is a Practice" (Issue 6), written and narrated by Portland State University School of Architecture faculty members Anna Goodman and Molly Esteve.

Anna Goodman, assistant professor in the Portland State University School of Architecture, wrote and narrated three episodes in the audio issue, titled “Community is a Practice” (Issue 6), and adjunct faculty member and recent PSU M.Arch graduate Molly Esteve wrote and narrated a fourth episode. The issue explores the vital, and evolving, role of community-engaged work in architecture in the U.S.

Listen to “Community is a Practice” here as well as on iTunes, Mixcloud and Stitcher.

The innovative aural format of this architectural journal gives rise to a new conversation about the opportunities that come with new methods and forums for presenting architectural scholarship. A virtual panel discussion will be held on F...

Snøhetta completes two new buildings for Cornell Tech campus in New York

2021-12-15T15:22:00-05:00

Construction has been completed at two Snøhetta-designed buildings for the Cornell Tech campus in New York. The two buildings, named the Graduate Roosevelt Island Hotel and the Verizon Executive Education Center, operate independently though physically connected by a planted entry plaza.

Image: Michael Grimm

Designed to be a “welcoming front door” to the Cornell Tech campus, the buildings will host academic conferences, classes, and programs, as well as lodging and dining outlets for guests and visitors.

Image: Michael Grimm

The 18-story, 196-room hotel tower features a façade with softly curved surfaces wrapped in double-height aluminum panels. At the ground level, a pair of V-shaped columns define the entrance to a bar opening onto the shared courtyard. A continuous soffit runs from this entrance along the perimeter of the ground floor, and ultimately to the education center.

Image: Michael Grimm

The education center, meanwhile, rises four stories, adopting an “intimate, orga...

Free 3D planning tool launched to help schools teach architecture

2021-09-30T16:17:00-04:00

Planner 5D, a digital design tool, has created a free educational version to help schools teach architecture and design. The tool, which allows users to generate 3D home designs, is offering its free educational licenses to “encourage students to foster their creativity in a digital realm while learning design principles.” The tool is available to teachers worldwide, who can download up to 100 free educational licenses for use by students.

The initiative has been launched to facilitate the teaching of STEM subjects to school kids, including focuses on art, architecture, engineering, and interior design. The app is centered on “problem based learning”, which invites students to develop computational skills by studying and solving home design challenges using a library of 6000 objects.

“With this free educational version for schools, we not only provide students across the globe with access to the platform but also help teachers to encourage them to foster their creativity while l...

Metallica and Carharrt team up in initiative to attract new generation of workers in skilled trades

2021-09-07T15:22:00-04:00

Workwear brand Carhartt has teamed up with heavy metal band Metallica’s nonprofit All Within My Hands foundation in an effort to attract a new generation of workers in the skilled trades.

Carhartt announced that it is donating all online sales made this past Labor Day to the foundation’s Metallica Scholars program, an initiative dedicated to providing skills and services to students who are looking to enter a traditional trade or other applied learning program. It also provides direct support to 23 schools through the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to enhance their career and technical education programs.

The Labor Day campaign recreates a 1981 “Musicians Wanted” ad that was placed in a Los Angeles newspaper by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, which ultimately led to the formation of the band.

“To build the workforce of the future, we need to connect more people to the training and education that helps fill essential jobs,” said Janet Ries, Vice President of Marke...

Norman Foster Foundation presents 'On Archives' masterclass series

2021-08-13T16:59:00-04:00

The Norman Foster Foundation has released a new series of 14 masterclasses, titled “On Archives,” a follow-up of the “On Cities” series released in the Spring.

This edition explores the fundamental aspects related to architectural archives and libraries around the world, with episodes featuring leading experts in the fields of archiving, architecture, art, design, and heritage management. The video series supports the Foundation's educational initiative that aims to promote cross-disciplinary and trans-geographic exchange.

Previously on Archinect: Norman Foster launches 'On Cities' masterclass series

“While archives have, for centuries, been the core of cultural, historic and artistic institutions, these online lessons also acknowledge the relevance of archives for the performance of other disciplines, such as architecture and design, and for the future of society,” reads the Foundation’s announcement.

"On Archives" Masterclass Series, extended trailer. Video: Norman Foster Founda...

Hugh Hayden is announced as the next Madison Square Park Conservancy commission

2021-07-30T20:05:00-04:00

An eerie landscape of empty desks will occupy a 3,600-square-foot swath on the east side of Manhattan in Madison Square Park Conservancy’s latest exhibition set to open this January.

The exhibition was announced Tuesday by the Conservancy, which selected Hugh Hayden as the 42nd artist to receive the commission which dates back to 2004. Maya Lin’s Ghost Forest is currently on view in the park after being installed in late May.

Hayden’s installation called Brier Patch connects 100 wooden elementary school desks via a network of twisting tree branches that layer meaning and complexity onto the tangled sculptural mass meant as a metaphor for several attendant societal ills. It takes cues from children’s folklore and is reminiscent of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. The Conservancy’s Brooke Rapaport called it “visually powerful and loaded with inherent tensions—growth and stagnation, seduction and peril, individual and community—that ask us to consider how these dichotomies coexist i...

Olson Kundig transforms the Bay Area Discovery Museum into an immersive, research-driven learning environment for the 21st century

2021-07-20T15:11:00-04:00

A campus-wide renovation of the Bay Area Discovery Museum is finally complete, providing a much-needed upgrade to the 30-year-old institution that emphasizes a new approach to museum programming and early childhood education.

The $18.5 million project was overseen by Olson Kundig, who transformed the Fort Baker campus into an immersive center for learning while maintaining the architectural integrity of surrounding Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The firm has also recently completed an elaborate Noah’s Ark-themed children’s museum in Berlin.

Courtesy Olson Kundig

The firm installed five new permanent exhibitions, a STEM classroom, and activity spaces in addition to repurposing two existing buildings in an expanded master plan that incorporated research-driven methodologies and a focus on experiential learning.

Courtesy Olson Kundig

“We know that children are not exposed to design and engineering at an early enough age, so BADM’s mission to introduce STEM concepts through play ...

A circular floating pathway will allow visitors to walk atop Philadelphia's Schuylkill River

2021-05-24T18:35:00-04:00

A captivating, one-of-a-kind structure will allow visitors to seemingly walk atop the Schuylkill River, right along the southern shoreline of Philadelphia’s Bartram’s Garden. Set to arrive in 2022, FloatLab is a large, walkable art installation and learning lab. It is a new project from Mural Arts Philadelphia with support from the William Penn Foundation and is being designed by Boston-based firm Höweler + Yoon Architecture.

The lime green, ring-shaped pathway will change in elevation as visitors walk through it, creating points where one is walking above the water and others where one is eye level with the river. Approaches in architectural design, marine engineering, and naval architecture inform a system of eight ballast chambers below the structure’s surface, which allow FloatLab to remain consistently level and stable as the tide moves in and out.

Image: Höweler + Yoon Architecture and Brick Visual

FloatLab was designed as a means to explore the river and reconnect visitors to...

Billionaire business man, art collector and philanthropist, Eli Broad, passes away at 87

2021-05-05T18:05:00-04:00

Eli Broad, a businessman and philanthropist whose vast fortune, extensive art collection and zeal for civic improvement helped reshape the cultural landscape of Los Angeles, died on Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 87. [...] Mr. Broad (pronounced “brode”) made billions in the home-building and insurance businesses and spent a significant part of his wealth trying to make Los Angeles one of the world’s pre-eminent cultural capitals.

Broad is best known for his extensive philanthropic work focused on public education, scientific and medical research, and the visual and performing arts. He, along with his wife Edythe, has given more than $4 billion to support these efforts. Their work has placed them among the leading philanthropists in the United States.

His lasting legacy on Los Angeles is considerable with work including the creation and preservation of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the creation of the Broad, a $140 million art museum that he financed himself that features his collection of more than 2,000 contemporary works, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, in which he granted $50 million to complete the project.

In recent years, Broad has dedicated a majority of his time to his philanthropic work via his foundations, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and The Broad Art Foundation. With assets of $2.4 billion, they advocate for public education reform and promote the revitalization of Los Ang...