Archinect - News

Shaping an architectural legend: what inspired I.M. Pei?

2019-05-17T16:16:00-04:00

I.M Pei's work has influenced many. However, there are several individuals and places that have influenced Pei into becoming one of the most recognized architects in the profession. Growing up in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew much inspiration from his childhood surroundings, but do you know what else inspired the late architectural legend?

Every great architect is inspired by someone or something which propels them into producing their most significant work. Below is a list of people and places that have influenced I.M. Pei and his work.

Shizilin Garden in Suzhou - The Lion Grove Garden. Image by Gisling courtesy of WikiCommons

Shizilin Garden in Suzhou
As a child, Pei would visit the gardens of Suzhou with his family during the summer. Indeed a place filled with beauty and history the Shizilin Garden was especially influential to Pei as a boy. Built by a Buddhist monk in the 14th century, the late architect described the garden as "an ideal playground." What stuck with Pei the mo...

Peter Pran FAIA, co-founder of Peter Pran + H Architects, has passed away

2017-07-07T19:40:00-04:00

Norweigan-born architect Peter Pran, FAIA, has passed away. He was a co-founder and partner of Peter Pran + H Architects in New York City, and had previously held positions at Ellerbe Becket, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and NBBJ. He has also been an influential educator, having taught at schools across the country including the University of Kansas, Cornell University, and the University of Illinois-Chicago, as well as schools in Japan, Italy, and Denmark.

A full obituary will follow.

Robert Michael Kliment FAIA, cofounder of Kliment Halsband Architects, has died

2017-06-07T20:02:00-04:00

New York architect and cofounder of Kliment Halsband Architects, Robert Michael Kliment FAIA, 1922-2017, has passed away.

Born in Prague in 1933, Robert was one of several hundred children whom the humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton brought to safety in England during the Second World War. He was later schooled in France and Cuba before studying architecture at Yale, where he received his B.A. in 1954. After serving with the U.S. Army in Europe, he returned to Yale to complete his M.Arch in 1959, and upon graduation won a Fulbright Fellowship to study the history and evolution of urban spaces in Italy. He joined Mitchell/Giurgola in 1960 as the firm’s first full-time staff member, and later opened their New York office. In 1972 he founded Kliment Halsband Architects with his wife Frances.

Robert practiced a humanistic architecture that engaged thoughtfully with historical and cultural contexts while also leaving the way open to future uses and needs. As a practitioner, he brought a rig...

SCAD student pens a blog post announcing, "I Am Not Going To Be An Architect."

2016-03-04T14:11:00-05:00

I desperately tell myself as I hear students anxiously comparing internship applications and grad school plans. It’s okay if at any point, now or in the future, you find that you are straying from the path of the building arts, because you’ve collected some pretty valuable tools along the way. An architecture education provides much deeper skills than just designing and presenting buildings.

"The SCAD School of Building Arts includes the allied disciplines of architecture, urban design, historic preservation, interior design, architectural history and furniture design, engaging more than 1000 students. The distinct collaborative environment within the School of Building Arts promotes interdisciplinary learning that fully prepares students for professional careers after graduation. At SCAD, students learn to become architects, designers and preservationists who are strategic thinkers, global communicators and ethical practitioners of the building arts."

TriBeCa Synagogue’s Memorable Building and Stubborn Architect

2015-03-11T21:08:00-04:00

William Breger’s roster of memorable buildings is short: just one. But it is a building that has caught the public’s eye for three generations, that has accommodated, challenged and defined an ever-evolving religious community. Many architects die having achieved far less.

The architect, who could be difficult, objected to changes made years ago to “his” building. He was angered by the design of a mechitza, or partition, installed to separate women and men during worship. (Rabbi Glass had it changed.) He was infuriated when the original landscaped plaza by M. Paul Friedberg and Partners was paved over.

More recently, when he learned that a ground-floor reception area, designed by Claire Weisz, had been built without his knowledge, he warned Rabbi Glass that if he did not like what he saw, he would cut the synagogue off from any bequest.

What he found was a front desk that, with its shallow S shape, paid homage to his bow-fronted design. Rabbi Glass said Mr. Breger paid it a high compliment: “I don’t hate it.”

Celebrate the launch of Archinect v3.0 with us in NYC on April 29th

2011-04-22T00:34:39-04:00

Please join us for drinks and socializing next Friday, April 29th, in New York City, at the Samsung Experience space in the Time Warner Building, for a celebration of the launch of Archinect v3.0, and a very special announcement of an exciting new alliance formed by Archinect, Designer Pages, OpenBuildings and Otto.

We'll be utilizing the high-resolution digital screens in the space to show our new site, and the work from our community. If you would like to submit work to be considered for presentation at the event, please upload your projects to your individual profile (apply here for a profile if you don't already have one) and/or upload projects to your firm profiles (click here to set up your firm profile if you don't yet have one).

Friday, April 29, 2011 @ 6:00 PM

Samsung Experience: Time Warner Building

10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY (map)

Please RSVP by sending an email to connect@archinect.com, indicating your name and the number of guest you will b...