Archinect - News

Last week today, June 8-15 2015: BIG projects, big opinions

2015-06-15T18:33:00-04:00

Friday, June 12:

The new OMA-designed Garage Museum opens in Moscow: On the design, Koolhaas has been quoted with "not restoring the building, but preserving its decay". The original Soviet-era building used to be a restaurant.

Thursday, June 11:

Stargazing with Patrik Schumacher: Episode 33 of Archinect Sessions: Patrik Schumacher discusses his recent op-ed for Archinect.
The Cooper Union turmoil continues: President Jamshed Bharucha resigns: In the midst of student protests and five trustees resigning, President Bharucha also stepped down last week. This came after the Cooper Union's Board had already voted not to renew Bharucha's contract as president next year.

Wednesday, June 10:

Five Cooper Union trustees just resigned: Among them were Daniel Libeskind, Mark Epstein (the board’s former chairman), Vassar College president Catharine Bond Hill, Francois de Menil (the board’s vice chairman), and investment banker Monica Vachher.
Locals welcome The 606, a.k.a. Chicago's "High Line", but a...

Weekly News Round-Up for January 19, 2015

2015-01-26T20:46:00-05:00

Sunday, January 25:

Aaron Betsky To Lead Taliesin West: Effective immediately, Betsky will "set the intellectual tone or the School " as it undergoes a rough and potentially definitive funding period.

Friday, January 23:

Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House to reopen once again in February: So culminates a six-year and nearly $4.4M restoration project, to return the house to its early 20th century state.

Thursday, January 22:

Megataaaall Shanghai Tower enters final construction phase: It's 632 meters tall, symbolizes China's Future, and is flanked by two other skyscrapers repping China's Past and Present.

David Chipperfield pledges to carefully "optimize" Mies van der Rohe's Neue Nationalgalerie: Chipperfield also renovated Berlin's Neues Museum, and plans to "keep as much Mies as possible".

Wednesday, January 21:

'Can of Ham' skyscraper coming to London after all: Delayed since 2008 after the financial crisis hit, the hamscraper will sit in close company to London's Gherkin.

Monday, January...

The sky is falling! Weekly News Round-Up for January 12, 2015

2015-01-19T18:05:00-05:00

Friday, January 16:

Architecture for Humanity to shut down: The San Francisco HQ has laid off all employees and will file for bankruptcy, however it's unclear how this will affect operations of the many national/international AfH outposts that function through volunteers.
Work at Manhattan's 432 Park Ave tower ordered to stop after pipe falls from 81st floor: The latest in a recent series of similar incidents, including a bolt falling from London's cheesegrater, falling art in Mons, the 2015 European Capital of Culture, and concrete panels dropping from Zaha Hadid's library in Vienna.

Thursday, January 15:

Norm's Coffee Shop, an LA Googie icon, is temporarily saved from demolition: Along with the first Taco Bell being in peril of demolition, part of southern California's architectural heritage is being considered.

Wednesday, January 14:

Jean Nouvel boycotts opening of his Philharmonie de Paris: Despite the restaurant and exhibition space not being fully complete, Nouvel's Philharmonie hel...

Clinton's keynote, Boston's Olympics, and California's bullet train groundbreaking: Weekly News Round-Up for January 5, 2015

2015-01-12T15:33:00-05:00

Friday, January 9:

Boston wins U.S. Olympic Committee's bid for 2024 Games: Beating out Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC, Boston's Olympic campaign estimates it can finance the Games with $4.5B in private funds and $5B or so in publicly-funded infrastructural projects.

Thursday, January 8:

Archinect Sessions is back with Episode 11, "Another year, Another Architecture", with the multi-talented Mitch McEwen: Mitch talks opportunity and collaboration in Detroit, and opines on architecture's shifting professional identity.
Five firms shortlisted for Mackintosh Library renovation after devastating fire: Glasgow School of Art will choose between Avanti Architects, John McAslan + Partners, LDN Architects LLP, Page \ Park Architects and Purcell by the end of March 2015.

Wednesday, January 7:

Driving in the US is coming to a standstill, and that's a good thing: The Federal Highway Administration released a report anticipating no-change in driving per capita, which means less money al...

Architecture's expensive taste: Weekly News Round-Up for December 1, 2014

2014-12-08T17:45:00-05:00

Friday, December 5:

William B. Callaway, noted Bay Area landscape architect at SWA Group, dies: He is survived by his four children and wife, Barbara Meacham. A memorial will be held in January.

Thursday, December 4:

How architecture is helping make Arcadia a magnet for Chinese money: LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne unpacks the changing style of residential architecture in southern-California's San Gabriel Valley, built to appeal to wealthy Chinese immigrants.

Wednesday, December 3:

NCARB announces reciprocity program across the US, Canada and Mexico: Qualified, licensed architects from the U.S., Mexico or Canada can now apply for a credential to work within any of those countries. The so-called "Tri-National Mutual Recognition Agreement for International Practice of Architecture" was born of the 1994 NAFTA Agreement.
Deborah Berke's design for new Cummins distribution HQ is unveiled: Berke beat out Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and SHoP Architects when chosen fo...

Cuts and gains: Weekly News Round-Up for November 17, 2014

2014-11-24T19:16:00-05:00

Friday, November 21:

Latest NCARB survey indicates architecture is a growing profession in the U.S.: Surveying Architectural Registration Boards in 2014, NCARB found a 3.1% growth of architects in the US since 2011.

Thursday, November 20:

Renzo Piano will design the new Kum & Go corporate HQ in Iowa: For non-locals, "Kum & Go" is a Midwestern chain of gas stations-cum-convenience stores. The HQ will be built in Des Moines.

Wednesday, November 19:

Clemson scraps its modern building plan: This past July, local preservation and historical foundations sued Clemson University for initially approving a modernist-style new building, and now, Clemson has dropped the building plans.
Saving Buildings with Social Media (Or Not): Alexandra Lange opines on the use and efficacy of social media to preserve architecture.
Architecture Billings Index shows slower expansion in October: AIA reports continued growth but at a slower pace than last month, thanks to "continued strength in the multi-family residen...

New York state of mind: Weekly News Round-Up for November 10, 2014

2014-11-17T14:53:00-05:00

Thursday, November 13:

Smithsonian hires BIG architecture group for $2 billion South Mall renovation plan: While approval is still pending, the large-scale renovation will include "two underground levels of visitor amenities" and could take up to twenty years to complete.

Lucas museum faces lawsuit from Friends of the Parks: The nonprofit advocacy group claims that cordoning off the Chicago waterfront for Lucas' museum violates the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing "equal protection and due process" for deciding what to do with land belonging to the state of Illinois.

Wednesday, November 12:

Two window washers trapped on scaffolding at 1 WTC: The two men were shortly rescued by firemen, after uneven ascending cables left them dangling at a 65-degree angle 827ft in the air.

The Courtyard House Plug-In: A House Within The House: People's Architecture Office created a modular interior set to install in Beijing's historic buildings, as a renovation alternative to demolition.

The Race to Save Archi...

Look back, move forward: Weekly News Round-Up for November 3, 2014

2014-11-10T18:55:00-05:00

Friday, November 7:

8,000 Glowing Balloons Recreate the Berlin Wall: A 10 mile chain of balloons will line the path where the Wall previously stood, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its demolition.
First Ever Chicago Architecture Biennial Taking Shape for 2015: The Biennial's theme of "The State of the Art of Architecture" (named after Stanley Tigerman's 1977 conference), is starting to take shape, and will include a photo exhibition on Chicago from Iwan Baan.

Thursday, November 6:

Massive Hollywood project sits atop quake fault: The California Geological Survey confirmed that the Millenium Hollywood skyscraper sits on top of an active fault, despite the fact that the developer's consultants find no evidence of an active fault in their analysis of the data. LA's Department of Building and Safety will ultimately determine whether the Millenium can be built.
Centre Pompidou To Open Design and Architecture Gallery: Upon the opening of its new photography gallery, the renowned Parisian...

Schools shuffle and museums move forward: Weekly News Round-Up for October 27, 2014

2014-11-03T20:29:00-05:00

Friday, October 31:

New Plan for Architecture School at Wright Foundation: Facing the loss of its accreditation in 2017, the school is considering independent incorporation in order to continue operating.

Thursday, October 30:

Archinect's Lexicon: "Anthropocene": Recognizing that "Architecture notoriously appropriates and invents new language – sometimes to make appeals, sometimes to fill conceptual gaps, sometimes nonsensically", Archinect's new series will create a lexicon of (mostly new) discursive architectural terms.

Wednesday, October 29:

Relocation or Adaptation: São Paulo Nears Collapse as Drought Continues: Partially due to climate change and deforestation, major reservoirs are dangerously low and cities in São Paulo are beginning to go dry.
Snøhetta to take over SF development project near Civic Center: The condo design originally was given to Richard Meier, and may involve relocating the adjacent subway stop at Civic Center in downtown San Francisco.
The Broad Kinda Sorta Has an...

Law breakers, prize winners, bird flippers: Weekly News Round-Up for October 20, 2014

2014-10-27T17:53:00-04:00

Friday, October 24:

Architecture in Flux: Reporting from ACADIA Conference, Day 1: The Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture has changed a lot since its inception in the early 1980s; the conference takes a look at the present moment of "digital design" practice, while that term still exists.

Thursday, October 23:

Frank Gehry gives the crowd a piece of his mind (and his middle finger): At a press conference in Oviedo, Spain, in response to a reporter's insinuation that his architecture was "showy". Frank Gehry is 85 years old.
Keep Portland Architecture Weird!: Episode 3 of Archinect Sessions out now: Feat. special guest Brian Libby, we discuss the trials and tribulations of Michael Graves' Portland Building, and The Guardian's speculations on Obama's presidential library.
Denver's Union Station is lacking diversity and local critic places the blame on the architecture: The Denver Post's fine arts critic sees a lack of diversity at Union Station's multi-use redesign, and...

Preservation politics and pricey prizes: Weekly News Round-Up for October 14, 2014

2014-10-20T20:51:00-04:00

Sunday, October 19:

The Portland Building: Architect Michael Graves fiercely defends his controversial creation against demolition: According to The Oregonian's piece, the architect does not think any of the problems are by his design, but rather its application under budgetary and civic constraints.

Thursday, October 16:

Unesco threatens to put Venice on its Heritage at Risk list: Responding to corruption and mismanagement of environmental risks by the Venetian government, UNESCO may have to declare Venice a "Heritage at Risk".

Wednesday, October 15:

Honolulu Law Criminalizes Homelessness: It is now a misdemeanor in the popular tourist destination of Waikiki to "sit or lie on sidewalks", punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a maximum $1,000 fine.

Tuesday, October 14:

Maya Lin wins the 21st Annual $300K Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize: At $300,000 USD, the prize is one of the US's largest, afforded to artists working to affect social change.
Petrified Forest buildings named national treasu...

Big businesses and baby steps: Weekly News Round-Up for September 22 and 29, 2014

2014-10-06T18:43:00-04:00

Friday, October 3:

Eisenhower Memorial clears key hurdle on Gehry design: In a positive step for the Memorial's Approving Process Odyssey, the National Capital Planning Commission has OK'd the Commission on Fine Arts (the other federal body that must approve the design) to vote on the Memorial.
Where are the women? Measuring progress on gender in architecture: A series of infographics on the representation of women in architectural practice and education, courtesy of ACSA.

Wednesday, October 1:

Guggenheim plans New York expansion… again: Not for more art space (Gehry tried that before) but for offices.
Zaera-Polo steps down as dean of Princeton's School of Architecture: From the press release: "the school's former dean, Professor Stanley T. Allen, will serve as acting dean until a permanent successor is appointed and that Professor Allen will chair the search for the new dean."
Tiny Spanish Island to be First Energy Self-Sufficient Island: The 10,000 population island will use renewable e...

Geniuses, money and monuments: Weekly News Round-Up for September 15, 2014

2014-09-22T20:47:00-04:00

Saturday, September 20

NYC's historic 190 Bowery part of massive buy-up by developer RFR Holdings: RFR plans to spend upwards of $900M on property and land purchases by the end of 2014. One of its recent buys included the former "72-room bohemian dream house" at 190 Bowery.

Friday, September 19

MacArthur Fellow Rick Lowe Reclaims Urban Neighborhoods Through Art: Lowe is currently a resident at Philadelphia's Pearl Street Project, which aims at making dimly-lit alleyways more safe. He is also the founder of Houston's Project Row Houses.
Zaha Hadid launches luxury homeware range with Harrods: Pieces include a £9,999 serving platter, £43 cups and saucers, and £4,860 Field of Towers chess set.
Archinect is at the Salk Institute, covering the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture Conference: The three-day conference focused on topics in neuroscientific research that serve the architecture profession, including advances in mobile brain-computing interfaces and the neurological data behind...

China builds its dream island; Qatar controversies continue; the internet slows down: Weekly News Round-Up for September 7, 2014

2014-09-15T20:01:00-04:00

Friday, September 12:

Vincent Scully Prize 2014 awarded to journalist and TV host Charlie Rose: The prize was established by the National Building Museum in 1999, and is named after the famed Yale art history and architecture professor who helped establish Louis Kahn and Robert Venturi. Rose was distinguished by his interviews of leaders in urban design and development.

Thursday, September 11:

Toronto set to unveil first museum of Islamic culture in North America: The museum is backed by Aga Khan, a "lesser-known royal" and spiritual leader of an estimated 15 million Ismaili Muslims, approximately 100,000 of which now live in Canada. The museum is designed by Pritzker winner Fumihiko Maki, and opens September 18.

Wednesday, September 10:

The long-lost design bible of the New York subway is (briefly) back in print: In 1967, the New York City Transit Authority asked designers Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda to create a solution to the subway system's inconsistent and confusing identity. Th...

Apple 2 campus taking shape, NCARB names names, and cities sell out: News Round-Up for September 2, 2014

2014-09-09T18:04:00-04:00

Friday, September 5:

Beijing public transit commuters can now pay fares with empty bottles: Beijingers can insert a recyclable bottle and receive equivalent rebates in train fares or mobile phone credits.
Community Bus Stops Transform Brazil: Thousands of Brazil's bus stops are unmarked, leading fed-up residents to install their own signage under the Que Ônibus Passa Aqui? (Which Bus Stops Here?) program, one of the world's biggest community projects.
Town Becomes a Beer Ad, but Residents Don’t Feel Like a Party: Crested Butte, Colorado, population 1,500, was outfitted for a three-day party to publicize Bud Light, with 1,000 partiers vetted and shipped in by Anheuser-Busch. The town's Mayor agreed to host the party to the tune of $500,000, in part to help boost the town's mostly tourist economy during the difficult "shoulder" season between summer and winter.
Gehry's Revised Eisenhower Memorial Loses Two Controversial Tapestries, But Concerns Remain: Nitpicking continues over the Memori...

NIMBYs go to court over "modern" home; Zaha gets an apology; global warming rages on: News Round-Up for August 25, 2014

2014-09-02T20:07:00-04:00

Friday, August 29:

MIT's MindRider helmet draws mental maps as you bike: The prototype is currently being used to create a mental-map and guidebook for NYC, and an upcoming Kickstarter campaign will attempt to fund the project for commercial sale.
In Beirut, a grassroots push for more grass: Lebanon's fifteen-year civil war made much of Beirut's green space inaccessible or dysfunctional. The Beirut Green Project is trying to bring at least a modicum of green space back to the city's residents.

Thursday, August 28:

Norwegian artists plan to open art academy in North Korea: Nothing's final yet, but the school is committed to its disbelief in sanctions or boycotts on art.
Alvar Aalto gets a close look from Google's Cultural Institute: Google's cameras go inside the famous Finnish architects studio, as well as a selection of his works, for a curated photo-exhibition.

Wednesday, August 27:

China considering drastic ban on coal: Chinese news outlets claim that work is underway to ban coal in Bei...

Lawsuits, Legos and landmarks: Weekly News Round-Up for August 18, 2014

2014-08-25T13:13:00-04:00

Friday, August 22:

Zaha Hadid sues architecture critic Martin Filler over book review: Hadid is responding to allegedly defamatory comments made by Filler regarding her 2022 World Cup stadium in Qatar.
The Demolition of 5 Pointz Has Begun: The "Graffiti Mecca" was slated for demolition last November, when the property owners' "broken window" theory justification beat out the artists' protests. Two residential towers will be built in 5 Pointz's place.
Study confirms LA is least affordable city for rentals in US: Depressing UCLA study confirms that in the city with the highest proportion of renters in the country, the average renter spends nearly 47% of their income on rent. The news is part of a nearly fifty year old trend in the renting market.

Thursday, August 21:

Lego House in Billund, Denmark, begins construction by laying giant Lego brick–shaped foundation stones: Even if BIG hadn't designed it, Bjarke would have laid the first brick.
Istanbul's 'illegal' towers to be demolished after...

Weekly News Round-Up for August 11, 2014: Monumental politics, smart homes and GSAPP's new dean

2014-08-18T12:53:00-04:00

Friday, August 15

Farewell to the Old Okura: The famous Hotel Okura, built in the 1960s in a distinctive fusion of modern and traditional Japanese styles, is closing in response to prohibitive earthquake retrofits and larger, newer hotels in the area.
Samsung Acquires SmartThings, A Fast-Growing Home Automation Startup: SmartThings, an aggregator for all "smart" internet-connected devices in the home, cost Samsung an estimated $200 million —chump change in comparison to Google's $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest.

Thursday, August 14

One ridesharing app to rule them all: Ridescout moves into the competitive world of rideshare: Ridescout aggregates hundreds of ridesharing services to compare trips, and will now include "carpool" options that can help users share trips. The announcement comes after last week's news that Uber and Lyft are now both offering carpooling services.
Revisiting the American Folk Art Museum controversy, through comics: A thoughtful and diplomatic look at AFAM's his...

Weekly News Round-Up for August 4, 2014: Musk, Martha and monuments

2014-08-11T15:53:00-04:00

Friday, August 8:

Guggenheim Bullies Journalist: Molly Crabapple reports for Vice on inhumane immigrant labor conditions on Saadiyat island in the UAE, where a new arm of the Guggenheim (and Louvre, and NYU) is being built. The Guggenheim holds its cards close and skirts responsibility when Crabapple pushes for answers.
Controversial new app will keep you away from "sketchy" areas: "SketchFactor" rates an area's "sketchiness" based on crowd-sourced local data. Critics are worried that the app will amplify racial profiling and encourage stereotyping.

Thursday, August 7:

Gentrification and the Persistence of Poor Minority Neighborhoods: Harvard sociologists identify another determinant in the gentrification debate: racial composition. Their report, focusing on Chicago, found that a neighborhood's economic redevelopment depended on certain thresholds of black and white residents.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu called for the suspension of the Israeli Architects’ Association from an intern...

Weekly News Round-Up for July 28, 2014: Exploding pipelines and contentious museums

2014-08-04T14:58:00-04:00

Friday, August 1

Gas Pipelines Explode in Taiwan City Killing 24: The cause of the propene pipeline explosion is still unknown, but officials noticed irregularities in the pipe's flow hours beforehand, without investigating further.
Jacko's Neverland Ranch is up for sale at $50-75M: Michael Jackson's Disneyland-esque compound in Santa Barbara was handed back to Tom Barrack's Colony Capital in 2008, when Jackson was heavily in debt. With $5M in annual upkeep, Colony Capital is now selling the property.
Plans approved for Damien Hirst's village on the British coast: Hirst will collaborate with Architects Rundell Associates on the 75-home city. Renderings are surprisingly conventional when compared to Hirst's work.

Thursday, July 31

New Renderings of What Will Replace Grafitti Art Mecca 5Pointz Emerge: Unsurprisingly, it's two residential towers: with some mixed-use space on the ground floor, and 20% affordable housing. Designed by HTO Architect, the buildings will have some space set as...

Slums, Siza and squatting: ICYMI Weekly News Round-Up for July 21, 2014

2014-07-28T14:45:00-04:00

In Case You Missed It, a look back at the major happenings from last week's News.

Friday, July 25

Families Removed From 'Tower of David' Skyscraper Slum: Venezuelans initially began living in the abandoned office towers in 2007, due to the country's burgeoning financial crisis. They are now being evicted by Caracas city officials, citing safety concerns in the 45-floor building.
Row over Olympic cauldron design settled out of court: Olympic officials settled with designers from Atopia, who claimed the cauldron design relied heavily on their ideas without citation. While Atopia's influence has been recognized, design of the cauldron is still credited to Thomas Heatherwick.

Thursday, July 24

Álvaro Siza donates his architectural archives to institutions in Portugal and Canada: The archive will be divided up between the Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montreal), the Fundação Gulbenkian in Lisbon and the Fundação de Serralves in Porto.
Can a Frank Gehry design help change the dynamic of Wat...