Archinect - News

Mosul residents fear revamping of Tigris riverfront will erase their historical identity

2019-07-20T09:00:00-04:00

"People know Mosul's Old City by its riverfront - it has some of the city's most important historic features," Fethi added, referring to the city's old wall, the citadel, palaces and other heritage sites along the Tigris' west bank. "It [the council] should aim to preserve Mosul's heritage rather than turn [it] into another Dubai ... an absolute anathema to what should be done."

Two years after Iraqi forces regained full control of Mosul from ISIL, local authorities are pushing a proposal to transform historic neighborhoods along the west bank of the Tigris river into a modernized “new city”, with high rises, large supermarkets and restaurant chains. Al Jazeera spoke with Mosul residents, who believe the plan will erase their historical identity. With some 300,000 residents still displaced, the redevelopment plan doesn't include a budget for rebuilding homes or restoring heritage sites.

“While still a vision for now, local authorities have already begun talks with residents to convince them of the proposal, which, they say, is the only way to redevelop Mosul in the face of limited support from the central government in Baghdad,” Al Jazeera reports. The article states that “Locals and experts alleged that the redevelopment plan was also an effort to manipulate communities into leaving their neighbourhoods”.

Demolished Tokyo apartment building, the "holy land of manga," to be rebuilt as a museum

2016-07-08T13:26:00-04:00

An apartment building known as the “holy land of manga” due to its famous former tenants is to be rebuilt and opened as a museum of manga and anime in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward. Tokiwaso, which was demolished more than 30 years ago, will be reconstructed in a park [...] Past occupants included “God of manga” Osamu Tezuka, the author of “Astro Boy,” who lived there in the 1950s; Fujiko Fujio of “Doraemon” fame; “Cyborg 009” creator Shotaro Ishinomori; and “Osomatsukun” artist Fujio Akatsuka.

Studio Gang Architects selected to design new U.S. Embassy in Brazil

2016-03-09T12:55:00-05:00

Out of a shortlist of six firms, The Department of State's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations has chosen Studio Gang Architects, run by MacArthur fellow and winner of 2016's Architect of the Year from the Women in Architecture Awards, Jeanne Gang, to design a multi-building campus for the new U.S. Embassy based in Brasilia, Brazil. Studio Gang Architects, which has tackled such easy breezy projects in the past as a proposal to reverse the flow of the Chicago River, was chosen in part for its "more than 20 years of collaborative experience executing projects with complex constraints at challenging sites," according to a press release. The new embassy, which will rebuild the existing compound on its 12 acre site, will feature a Marine Security Guard Residence, a Chancery, and various support facilities.

For more on what the Gang has been up to:

The new $2.5 billion plan to rebuild the historic Penn Station

2015-05-04T15:38:00-04:00

It's been over 50 years, but for many, the destruction of Charles Follen McKim's original Pennsylvania Station still stings (hey, even Mad Men mourned its passing). But now, there is a hopeful (if improbable) plan from Richard W. Cameron—principal designer at Atelier & Co—to bring back the civic jewel of a long-gone New York. According to Traditional Building's's Clem Labine, Cameron's plan has three main goals [...]."

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