Archinect - News

The political reason behind London’s ‘weird’ skyline

2024-02-15T11:30:00-05:00

The dominance of starchitect-led high rises in London is the result of the UK’s subjective planning system, according to a new opinion piece in The New York Times. Taking aim at the city’s “weird” skyline, business and economics columnist Peter Coy argues that “developers hire star architects because doing so gives them a better chance of winning approval for taller, more profitable buildings.”

Related on Archinect: The City of London skyline is expected to add these eleven towers by 2030. Image credit: City of London Corporation

“London has a jarring profusion of odd skyscrapers with funny names or nicknames,” Coy explains. “There are the Shard and the Scalpel, which are pretty elegant. The (mostly) well-liked Gherkin, which looks like a glass pickle. The wedge-shaped Cheese Grater. And the widely loathed Walkie-Talkie, a bulbous cartoon of a building that “looms thuggishly over its low-rise neighbors like a broad-shouldered banker in a cheap pinstriped suit,” to quote The Guardian....

UWM’s Mo Zell on the significance of Calatrava’s Quadracci Pavilion 20 years on

2022-01-26T16:38:00-05:00

Two decades later, the Quadracci Pavilion remains one of the most significant works of architecture in Milwaukee. The project changed the conversation about the city and fueled a vision of molding the area into an arts and entertainment destination. Simply referred to as “The Calatrava” by locals, the game-changing project has made the Milwaukee Art Museum a must-see for residents and tourists alike. The structure has been the backdrop remains a symbol of the city’s continuing renaissance.

The iconic 2001 structure has become synonymous with the city’s skyline and is seen as the originator of an influx of modern buildings that includes the new Northwestern Mutual Tower and Populous-designed Fiserv Forum downtown. Mo Zell, the Senior Associate Dean of UW Milwaukee’s architecture department, says the impacts brought about by the $121 million pavilion are only beginning to be felt, and that she looks forward to seeing how the future of the city’s built environment will bear its influence.

“Twenty years feels like a long time, but it’s not,” she explained. “It’s youthful in terms of building change. I’m super excited because I think we’re on the cusp of seeing that design culture pay off in the not too distant future. The next 10 years is where you are going to see a lot more of the translation of that design in the city. I think we’re poised to have a different kind of conversation around how buildings play a significant role for the city and what it means to have good d...

We've interviewed them, now go work for them! 11 of the most talented architecture firms in Los Angeles are hiring

2020-01-16T12:00:00-05:00

Continuing with our regional Spotlight on Los Angeles, we've selected 9 Los Angeles firms that are currently searching for the right candidate to join their team.

During any job search, learning about your future employer and the culture of the offices they run is key. For this week's selection of curated job picks, we have also included interviews, podcasts, and studio visits with the leaders of these firms. Collectively, they discuss their respective practice's histories, studio cultures, and projects.

Opened in 2003, Gehry also designed LA Phil's iconic home on Grand Avenue, the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Photo: Giuseppe Milo/Flickr

Gehry Partners, LLP Seeks a Job Captain/Intermediate Architect, Senior Project Architect, Revit Content Specialist, and Project Architect/Senior Job Captain
Frank Gehry established his practice in Los Angeles, California in 1962. The Gehry partnership, Gehry Partners LLP, was formed in 2002 and currently supports a staff of over 130 persons engaged in...

Why homes designed by star architects are so hard to sell

2019-12-31T18:15:00-05:00

[...] sobering reality of selling a “starchitect”-designed home: They might have gotten what they paid for in their house’s dramatic lines, luxurious materials, and prestigious pedigree, but when it comes time to sell, the market is often unforgiving.

Bloomberg on the challenging business of selling luxury homes, custom-designed for their initial owners by famous architects, including a few properties in the U.S. by Rafael Viñoly, Steven Holl, Annabelle Selldorf, and Pritzker Prize laureate Tadao Ando.

Herzog & de Meuron will turn Gowanus’ graffiti-covered ‘Batcave’ into an art production factory

2017-03-08T16:04:00-05:00

One vestige of Gowanus Canal's gritty, industrial days will soon join the ranks of its Brooklyn-esque neighbors. The Batcave, a former warehouse built in 1904, will be transformed into an art production factory and exhibition space to be called the Powerhouse Workshop by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron.

How starchitect culture shifted in 2016

2016-12-16T18:18:00-05:00

This topical review of 2016's News isn't about certain architects' big projects or prizes (those'll have their own lists), but about the culture surrounding those big names, and the way their personalities convey the profession to a wider audience. For your reading pleasure, presented in reverse chronological order:

Jean Nouvel's court battle over the Philharmonie continues

Nouvel had originally filed an unsuccessful suit against the Philharmonie for "defiling" his design by altering it without his consent. He's now filing the complaint with a different French court, to get them to change it back to his original design, bringing up complex issues of intellectual copyright as well as architectural reputation.

Frank Gehry might bail on the U.S. now that Trump's been elected

Dual American-Canadian citizen Gehry mentioned in an interview that French president Francois Hollande had offered him self-exile, although it's unlikely that he'll take Francois up on it. In the same interview, Gehry...

Landmarks reveals new renderings for Studio Gang's Natural History Museum expansion project

2016-10-12T11:23:00-04:00

In light of the Landmarks Preservation Commission's approval of Jeanne Gang's expansion plan for the American Museum of Natural History, the Commission has revealed a slew of new renderings, which show the $325 million project from various angles, as well as new views of the surrounding parkland. Chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan referred to the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation as a “stunning piece of architecture” and an “absolutely wonderful addition.”

Architecture has sacrificed its aspiration to deepen public life

2016-09-01T20:23:00-04:00

Modern architecture, during its heyday, was deeply concerned with its civic function; its mission to reform housing and improve the city was a moral imperative. But the failure of this utopian vision has served to...[give] rise to a profession in which its practice is defined increasingly by individual “star” architects and “architecture for architecture’s sake”...

In a piece on the civic benefits of music, literature, and architecture to the public sphere, Rebecca Burgess finds architecture to be somewhat lacking, based on the writings of Michael J. Lewis. Is this a complaint about the good old days in the vein of Prince Charles, or a meaningful critique in an era of starchitects?

For all the latest on starchitecture:

New Renderings of Bjarke Ingels’ High Line Towers Show Crowns and Amenity Bridges

2016-08-10T17:31:00-04:00

In November 2015, Bjarke Ingels‘ released images of a pair of asymmetric, twisting towers along the High Line at 76 Eleventh Avenue then at the beginning of this year, the design changed to a simpler silhouette with more space in between the two buildings. Now it has been revealed through another group of renderings glass crowns at the 300- and 400-foot tops, the retail podium and plaza fronting the High Line, and two amenity-filled podium bridges that will connect the towers.

Could This Glass-Enclosed Farm/Condo Grow on Rem Koolhaas’ High Line Site?

2016-08-05T13:23:00-04:00

From multidisciplinary architectural firm Weston Baker Creative comes this vision of glass and grass in the form of a mixed-use high-rise springing from the Rem Koolhaas parcel on banks of the High Line. As CityRealty.com reported, the mixed-use concept would include residences, an art gallery and ten levels of indoor farming terraces.

New Jersey’s Oldest and Largest Frank Lloyd Wright House Listed for $2.2M

2016-07-07T12:36:00-04:00

Of the four houses Frank Lloyd Wright built in New Jersey, the first and largest was the 2,000-square-foot James B. Christie House, which dates to 1940. Wright built the home on seven acres of secluded woodland and employed his Usonian principles of simplicity and practically that connect to nature. After selling in 2014 to a private buyer for $1.7 million, the Christie House is now on the market for $2.2 million after receiving a new roof and heating system.

"We need less Gehrys, less Hadids, less bloated egotecture. We need more shit, more beautiful shit for the rest of us."

2016-06-07T13:26:00-04:00

By and large, elite architects have disengaged from efforts to make the most fundamental unit of architecture available to all. [...] Contra Hadid and others, a truly revolutionary architecture would concern itself with how to provide permanent, quality housing for the nearly one billion people currently living in slums, how to create accessible housing for the millions more adversely affected by a global affordability crisis in urban areas.

Related on Archinect:

Rafael Viñoly admits 432 Park ‘has a couple of screw-ups’

2016-05-09T12:13:00-04:00

Critics of the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere, 432 Park Avenue, are quick to try to bring the tower down from its 1,400-foot pedestal. And strangely, its very own architect is the latest jump on the bandwagon. Rafael Viñoly admitted at a Douglas Elliman talk last week that his creation “has a couple of screw-ups,” namely the window framing, which he blames on developer Harry Macklowe, and the tiny issue of “the interior design and layout.”

Previously:

The anti-starchitect approach of Malaysia's Veritas Design Group

2016-04-08T17:56:00-04:00

the firm founded by Harvard-trained David Mizan Hashim has made a name over three decades as a stalwart of the Malaysian architecture scene [...] It is now the country’s second-largest architecture firm, with 330 staffers led by 14 architect principals; 5 of them head Veritas offices overseas. [...] “I purposely don’t want all decisions to come from me,” [Hashim] says ... “My strategy is planned obsolescence.”

Related on Archinect:

60 Minutes profiles Bjarke Ingels, the "Starchitect"

2016-03-14T18:16:00-04:00

The culture at BIG is intense but in off-hours, blowing off steam dressed as your favorite comic book hero isn't uncommon. That's the boss armed with a gun full of tequila. Bjarke Ingels: The way we work is maybe unlike certain architects that have a very particular style where it is the auteur. It has to be the design principal who makes the strokes of genius. I don't have to come up with the best idea. It is my job to make sure that it is always the best idea that wins.

Looking for even BIGger news on Archinect? Here are a few recent stories to begin with:

Starchitect-Designed Public Projects Are Often Long Delayed and Way Over Budget

2016-03-01T17:15:00-05:00

Last week Port Authority decided not to hold an opening ceremony for Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub (followed by their sudden flip flop), citing the fact that it was six years delayed and that final construction costs came in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected. But it’s hardly the only public project to face delays and skyrocketing costs. In fact, it’s not even close to being the worst of the lot that are draining tax payer dollars.

REVEALED: Bjarke Ingels’ Brand New High Line Towers

2015-11-23T11:02:00-05:00

Back in February it was revealed that HFZ Capital Group was in talks to bring a “monumental” new structure to a lot at 76 11th Avenue in the Meatpacking District. And between shortlisted architects Rem Koolhaas and Bjarke Ingels, in April the developer decided to move forward with starchitect-of-the-moment Ingels for the high-profile project. Now Yimby has our first look at the design that may rise along the coveted High Line site.

Editor's Picks #432

2015-10-25T18:43:00-04:00

Amelia Taylor-Hochberg penned an essay on The humanity of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, wherein she argues "the Biennial is more about architects than it is about architecture."

Meanwhile Julia Ingalls reviewed the book Conversations with Architects: In the Age of Celebrity, by former corporate interior designer turned international architectural curator Vladimir Belogolovsky. DTElmore was convinced "this article has helped me to see that now, more than ever, buildings and criticism of buildings are inextricably linked to the characters that design them, possibly to the detriment of architecture."

News

Moscow is on a roll, of post-industrial rehab; with Renzo Piano Building Workshop releasing a redesign - for turning a Moscow power station into an art site for the V-A-C Foundation and Neutelings Riedijk Architects proposing golden glass and steel towers for a defunct Moscow auto plant.

The SANAA designed arts and community center, the River, finally opened its doors to the public...

Fun game: spot the double-standards in this Zaha-bashing piece!

2015-08-06T15:49:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid is the most famous woman architect in the world. Would women or, indeed, architecture, be better off without her pushily hard-won, global celebrity? [...] Hadid began a global strut in billowing drapery by Prada or Issey Miyake. She became the champion of an architecture that was more about personal ‘vision’ than public utility. [...] From the air, Hadid’s 2022 World Cup stadium with its almond-shaped opening and labial folds looks bogglingly like giant pudenda.

Sure, roasting starchitects is fun, and – at its best – can volley constructive criticism towards those architects most visible in the public eye as "Architects", ideally improving the profession at large. And then there's a piece like The Heckler's, which discredits any otherwise pointed jabs at Zaha by wrapping them in sexist stereotypes. See if you can spot them all!

Starchitect Rafael Vinoly to Design a 10-Story Meatpacking District Building

2015-05-26T13:18:00-04:00

Look out—not up—because there’s a new low-rise Rafael Vinoly-designed building coming our way. The architect mastermind behind the city’s tallest residential tower, 432 Park Avenue, has just been chosen to to design a comparatively demure ten-story office-and-retail building in the Meatpacking District, reports The Real Deal. The new addition is being developed by Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates and is located on the former site of Prince Lumber at 61 Ninth Avenue.

2 World Trade Center May Ditch Norman Foster’s Design for a Bjarke Ingels Skyscraper

2015-04-27T12:02:00-04:00

Norman Foster may lose out on yet another major project in Manhattan. The Journal writes that if News Corporation and 21st Century Fox decide to move into 2 World Trade Center, as previously reported, developer Larry Silverstein may drop Foster’s design in favor of a new one by none other than starchitect of the moment, Bjarke Ingels of BIG.

Listen to Archinect's interview with Bjarke in ep #14, "His bjark is BIGger than his bjite".

Oliver Wainwright takes a closer look at Beirut's downtown redevelopment

2015-01-22T15:43:00-05:00

Two decades after civil war blew the Lebanese capital to rubble, the city centre boasts immaculately rebuilt streets lined with Gucci and Prada stores – but the whole place is strangely deserted [...] the resulting place feels less souk than Duty Free airport lounge. It is a monotonous world of more swanky high street brands, from Burberry to Tag Heuer, staffed by idle shop assistants awaiting the promised customer footfall that has yet to arrive.

Editor's Picks #380

2014-08-13T20:11:00-04:00

For the latest edition of Student Works: Justine Testado spoke with project architect, Duncan Baker-Brown, about The Waste House, designed/built by faculty and students from the Faculty of Arts and City College Brighton & Hove.

Olaf Design Ninja_ did some quick math "The numbers tell quite the story...an average of 8 people per work week day for the 15 month project duration. Compared to an equivalent wood frame house in the US that could be an entire subdivision. This should tell you how far industry has to go to do the right thing".

Plus, elementary school librarian, Jennette Neville, shared her top 15 recommendations of architecture books for young children.

News

The NYT published a letter To the Editor: Less Ego in Architects by Peggy Deamer, a partner in Deamer Architects and professor at the Yale School of Architecture. Editors saw an opportunity to start a Sunday Dialogue, and a week later published responses and a rejoinders. davvid had a thought "Architecture firms are alrea...

NY Times Enters the "Starchitect" Debate

2014-07-30T13:58:00-04:00

Witold Rybczynski, the architect and emeritus professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, complained recently about “starchitects” who often work in cities they are unfamiliar with, creating buildings that are out of sync with their surroundings. In an interview, he argued in favor of local architectural talent, or “locatecture.” Are superstar architects ruining city skylines?

In this "Room for Debate" at the New York Times, Allison Arieff, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Beverly Willis, and Angel Borrego Cubero all provide their opinions on the much-used and controversial portmanteau.

End of the Starchitects?

2014-03-27T12:36:00-04:00

Practitioners create visually dazzling and unexpected forms that’re seemingly unrelated to anything as prosaic as function or context. They exploit advances in design and construction technology to build ever more visually arresting and extraordinary buildings. The future of this movement is likely to be limited because the law of diminishing returns inevitably applies to the search for ever-newer and ever-more unexpected architectural forms.

I miss that cohesiveness...

2011-10-24T11:50:19-04:00

“The word celebrity and the word architect are basically incompatible. I know it’s come to pass that some of us have become famous, but it’s a temporary condition, a strange pact: We get a lot of attention, but we’re taken less seriously. Journalists seem mostly interested in what brand of shoes I wear.”

Justin Davidson talks with Rem Koolhaas about the recently released Project Japan: Metabolism Talks, a book of interviews conducted by Koolhaas and the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist.. They also discuss the current state of the profession and the fact that OMA has never completed a building in New York.