Archinect - News

The Grand LA launches new Gehry-designed luxury tower in Downtown LA

2021-12-01T17:48:00-05:00

As part of the architect’s “long-lived dream of revitalizing Downtown LA’s Grand Avenue corridor,” Frank Gehry and Related Companies have announced the next iteration of their co-design for a one-of-a-kind luxury residential complex beset amongst the city’s civic and cultural core.

Billed as a “paradigm-shifting residential center” to pair The Grand LA, a massive new shopping center that is coming to Downtown at a time when the area is still struggling to emerge from the ill-effects of the pandemic economically, the new tower features 549 high-end residencies spread throughout 45 stories at the corner of Grand Avenue and South Olive Street across from Gehry’s Pritzker-winning masterpiece Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Image: Related – CORE

A total of 20% of units qualify in the much-needed area of affordable housing, the development attaches to the rest of the program of retail and office space that was also designed by Gehry.

The structure topped out back in March and is now set to hea...

A ‘Palace of Wonders’: Inside the soon-to-reopen Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building

2021-10-20T18:52:00-04:00

For the last 17 years, “this gorgeous piece of architecture” has “sat shrouded in mystery” in the middle of the National Mall, said Ms. Goslins, invoking the metaphor of Sleeping Beauty.

Similar to other formerly dormant cultural institutions, the reopening of the 140-year-old Arts and Industries Building will coincide with an exhibition titled FUTURES. The show goes on view November 20th and will feature a hodgepodge of art, architecture, and technology like the Virgin Hyperloop train and Bjarke Ingels’ Oceanix utopia.

The AIB's latest installation was designed by the Rockwell Group and will close its doors for the second time to make room for interior renovations that will commence once the exhibition ends in July of next year.

“The conversation that we have right now as a country about the future is pretty dysfunctional,” director Rachel Goslins told the Times. “It is mostly ‘here are all the things you should be afraid of because that’s what gets the clicks or what’s sexy.’ We have so much help imagining what could go wrong, but we don’t have that much help imagining what could go right.”

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Another Tod Williams Billie Tsien building is being demolished to make way for a BIG project in Baltimore

2021-09-25T16:37:00-04:00

Two big name architecture firms are changing places on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

The university has commenced demolition of its Tod Williams and Billie Tsien-designed Mattin Center that was originally completed on its Homewood campus in 2001.

The demolition will make way for a new $250 million student center designed by BIG with help of Rockwell Group and academic design specialist Shepley Bulfinch.

The erstwhile center was designed as a place to “nurture the creative arts in a school where the primary focus has always been science and engineering.”

Featuring a dance studio, black box theater, art studios and a café, the center’s design incorporated clerestory windows focused on producing as much natural light and clear sightlines as possible in order to create a sense of “visual community” amongst the student users.

“I loved walking in and disconnecting from the academic rigor to create something artistic with a group of people, and the building definit...

David Rockwell on his favorite historic NYC Broadway theaters

2020-03-31T00:45:00-04:00

I find it interesting that theaters are so resilient. They can have many lives. [...] For architects, set design can be a lesson in the fact that nothing is permanent. Permanence can be a little restricting, it turns out. Theater isn’t permanent. It exists when there is an audience.

Michael Kimmelman shares an interview with architect David Rockwell, who talked about some of his favorite historic Broadway theaters in NYC while the two went on a walk recently. Rockwell talks about the influence that theater had for him as a child, a few theater design projects his firm worked on, and not to mention some valuable, heartfelt lessons that the world of musical theater can teach during these uncertain times.

Over 1,100 foot-high observation deck to open in Hudson Yards, will be highest in Western Hemisphere

2020-03-10T11:46:00-04:00

The KPF-designed 30 Hudson Yards has long been deemed the tallest building of the Hudson Yards development, and due to open this month is the anticipated observation deck Edge, which, floating right at 1,131 feet high, will be the tallest observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. Located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards, it will take visitors a 52 second elevator ride to reach the platform's 7,500 square foot viewing area.

Nine-foot tall glass walls of angled glass allow viewers to "lean out over Manhattan." The sky deck also includes a glass floor to further exaggerate the intensity of the observation experience as the deck extends almost 80 feet from the face of the tower.

See the views from NYC’s highest outdoor residential space at 15 Hudson Yards

2020-02-19T19:18:00-05:00

Adding to Hudson Yards’ height superlatives, the city’s highest outdoor residential amenity space has opened at 15 Hudson Yards. Rising 900 feet in the air, “Skytop” features 6,000 square feet of curvy indoor-outdoor space, which follows the shape of the building’s crown. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with interiors by Rockwell Group, the amenity space offers unobstructed views of the Hudson River and beyond.

Image by Scott Frances for Related-Oxford

First photos of Edoardo Tresoldi's Fillmore wire-mesh sculpture in New York City

2020-01-28T19:04:00-05:00

A large-scale wire-mesh sculpture, suspended from the ceiling of Cathédrale restaurant in New York City, is the first commissioned artwork by Tresoldi Studio, the new design outlet founded by Italian artist Edoardo Tresoldi.

Dubbed Fillmore, the installation takes inspiration from the historic architecture of the legendary Fillmore East concert hall in Manhattan's Lower East Side that once hosted The Doors, Janis Joplin, Elton John, and many others. The restaurant is part of Moxy East Village hotel designed by Rockwell Group.

Fillmore (Tresoldi Studio) inside Cathédrale restaurant (Rockwell Group) © Roberto Conte

"The installation outlines itself as an architectural precious wreck, a tribute to the cultural background that influenced not only New York City, but several generations worldwide," explains the project description.

"The deep chasms and the huge fragmented central dome of the six-meter...

First glimpse at Rockwell Group's "Lawn" installation opening at the National Building Museum this Summer

2019-05-01T10:04:00-04:00

Following successful iterations by Snarkitecture, Studio Gang, James Corner Field Operations, and BIG, the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party is back this year with an immersive installation designed by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

For this year's party, the experimental design studio will be bringing a quintessentially American ideal to the Museum's Great Hall. As visitors enter the space, they will be greeted by a building-sized mural of the sky, that then leads them to a sloping green space with interactive hammocks. Recreating a giant yard as the installation's title "Lawn" suggests, the space will accommodate popular summer activities such as movie nights and yoga that are often hosted in parks during the summer months.

Rendering by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

“The lawn is a fascinating example of a typology that straddles the line between public and private space,” said David Rockwell, founder and president, Rockwell Group. “Whether it is a backyard or a public green, ...

See inside Hudson Yards arts center The Shed ahead of Friday’s opening

2019-04-03T16:16:00-04:00

A new cultural institution in New York City opens on Friday after more than a decade in the making. The Shed, which straddles the recently opened Hudson Yards neighborhood and the High Line on 30th Street, will commission and present original artwork across a variety of disciplines.

View from the High Line; Photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Shed

Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group, the building features a 120-foot movable shell, allowing it to physically change on demand and adapt to different performances. Kicking things off April 5 is a five-night concert series, “Soundtrack of America,” which was directed by Steve McQueen, Quincy Jones, and Maureen Mahon, and explores the impact of African American music on modern culture.

View of The Shed from 30th Street; Photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Shed

The Shed consists of two floors of column-free galleries, 500-seat Griffin Theater (named for billionaire Ken Griffin who donated $25 million for the project), and the...

National Building Museum partners with The LAB at Rockwell Group for 2019 "Summer Block Party" installation

2019-01-30T13:38:00-05:00

For its 2019 Summer Block Party exhibition, the National Building Museum has reenlisted Rockwell Group's experience design studio the LAB to transform the museum's atrium. The New York-based architecture firm also designed the museum's 2012 exhibit Play Work Build, one of NBM's most highest-attending events ever.

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, design by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

David Rockwell's 10-year old experimental studio has become known for their narrative-based experiences in physical spaces and digital-physical hybrids. One of the projects that brought them to prominence was their design for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where the lobby pillars are wrapped with animated digital content. The firm is currently working alongside Diller Scofidio + Renfro on the highly-anticipated Shed project.

For this year's Summer Block Party installation, the team will re-envision the museum's historic home as the Lawn, details for which are still forthcoming. Since its beginning six years ago...

The Shed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group takes shape on the High Line

2018-03-09T19:12:00-05:00

Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group, The Shed will open to the public in spring of 2019 with commissioned programs filling its expansive multi-use hall, galleries, and theater situated along NYC's High Line.

The Shed rendering, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Image: Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The Shed is a 200,000-square-foot structure that can physically transform to support ambitious ideas across many disciplines. The eight-level base building includes two expansive, column-free galleries, a 500-seat theater that can be subdivided into even more intimate spaces, event and rehearsal space, and a creative lab.

The Shed extendable shell rendering, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Image: Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

A movable outer shell can double the building’s footprint when deployed over the adjoining plaza to create a temperature-controlled space named The McCourt. The space will be able to house large-scale performances, installations, and events for a...

Fifteen Hudson Yards designed by DS+R and Rockwell Group tops out with initial opening next spring

2018-02-27T16:21:00-05:00

Fifteen Hudson Yards, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group, has now topped out and stands over 900 feet tall. This is the first tower within the 28-acre NYC site with for-sale residencies. Sales for the 285 condominiums have now surpassed 50%, with the remaining spaces priced from $3.9 million for a two-bedroom to $32 million for duplex penthouse.

Fifteen Hudson Yards topping out. Image: Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group.

Hudson Yards is a new neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side, which will include more than 100 shops and restaurants, approximately 4,000 residences, 14-acres of public open space, and a new 750-seat public school.

Construction progress at Hudson Yards, NYC. Image: Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group.

Developers Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group plan to open the entire first phase next March, which includes the Public Square and Gardens, its centerpiece the Vessel, and The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards.

W...

Watch the Shed slide along the High Line

2017-08-17T13:53:00-04:00

In its scale, this faintly quaint, eloquently designed contraption aspires to conjure up the spirit of those 19th-century exemplars of elegant engineering like the Brooklyn Bridge or the Eiffel Tower: industrial-era monuments of structural form, both necessary and sufficient, ingenious but not space age, encapsulating the aspirations of a city.

While the Shed, an art and performance space designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group will be in construction for at least another year, the structure is already capable of conducting its five minute moving act along the High Line. Weighing in at 8 million pounds, it glides on a half-dozen exposed steel “bogies,” or wheels, six-feet in diameter, 'with tapered bearings so meticulously engineered that the system requires just six 15-horsepower motors'.

When opened, the shell will drape over the Shed’s sprawling plaza at Hudson Yards, which can then be made into a movie palace or a gallery for art or a theater with bleacher seats — a flexible new 17,000 square foot public space for New York at what promises to be one of the city’s busiest pedestrian intersections after all the commercial skyscrapers around it are built.

Construction for Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group's “The Shed” pushes forward

2017-05-31T15:02:00-04:00

[W]hile only the skeleton of the six-level structure [...] has been completed so far, there are already some elements that set The Shed apart. The most obvious of these is a telescoping shell on wheels that serves as both a façade for the gallery spaces and a flexible canopy that can be extended to enclose a public plaza [...]“This project is bone and muscle and there's no fat,” said the architect Elizabeth Diller

A look at the latest construction developments of the Hudson Yards' “The Shed” arts and culture center, which began late last year and is due for a 2019 opening.

Construction begins on Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the Rockwell Group's “shape-shifting“ arts center in Manhattan

2016-11-23T18:17:00-05:00

[Dubbed “The Shed”,] The 18,500 square metre venue has six storeys and can “accommodate the broadest range of performance, visual art, music, and multi-disciplinary work”. A cultural centre will be encased in a 34m-high outer shell that can slide on rails to double the ground space. The building includes two large-scale column-free galleries comprising 2,320 square metres of museum-quality space, a 500-seat theater and event and rehearsal spaces. [Completion is due] in 2019.

For more about New York's Hudson Yards:

BIG-designed "The Spiral" Hudson Yards tower is inching closer to becoming reality

Renderings of Thomas Heatherwick's "Vessel" for New York's Hudson Yard revealed

Welcome to the Hudson Yards, c. 2019: the world's most ambitious "smart city" experiment

Forbes portraits David Rockwell on his 30th firm anniversary

2014-12-26T12:54:00-05:00

David Rockwell has got the art of theatrics down pat. His world is a stage complete with cuts, scene changes, sequences and transitions, where he is the director presiding over the action between performer, audience and space. [...] “The emphasis on arrival, procession, lighting and the all-encompassing power of a live theatrical experience have really impacted how I think about my designs.” He counts on his audiences buying in emotionally to his designs [...].