Archinect - News

RIBA's new diversity chair says it's not adequately funding a 'priority' EDI initiative

2022-07-12T16:19:00-04:00

The ability of perhaps one of the world’s most influential architectural organizations, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), to address issues of diversity and inclusion within the industry has once again come under scrutiny after news that one of its supposedly priority projects has yet to receive additional funding to proceed.

The Architects’ Journal is reporting that RIBA’s Finding and Accessing Architecture group chair, Femi Oresanya, expressed his concerns over an overall lack of funding for a project that a RIBA executive had apparently told him was of top priority during a Council meeting held on June 28th.

According to the Journal, the project was supposed to entail a matching program that provided students with work experience opportunities as overseen by the group and Oresanya. President Simon Allford and chair Jack Pringle reiterated the known financial straits of the organization before the former proposed providing additional funding for the project via a s...

New York's subway system could be broke by 2025 as remote work continues

2021-09-29T20:40:00-04:00

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the largest U.S. mass-transit provider, is running on borrowed time, facing budget and revenue challenges as federal aid is set to tap out in 2025, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, said in a report Tuesday.

The announcement comes on the heels of a rough summer for the MTA, which is only now seeing its ridership climb past 50% of pre-pandemic levels as it weighs a controversial congestion pricing plan that would add $1 billion in revenue a year beginning in 2023.

Interim boss Sarah Feinberg stepped down in late July, creating a leadership vacuum for the agency, which is now projecting $3.5 billion budget deficits that will run into 2024 and 2025. The MTA currently owes about $48 billion in debt.

The MTA will now have to grapple with the ramifications of the remote work revolution. According to the state’s report, annual fare revenues could decrease by $500 million if the typical rider adopts a three-to-four-day telecommute.

Construction costs for Herzog & de Meuron's Museum of the 20th Century ballooning

2019-11-15T15:30:00-05:00

The budget committee of Germany’s lower house of parliament yesterday approved additional funding for Berlin’s planned Museum of the 20th Century, designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, after estimates for the construction costs spiralled to €364m from €200m.

According to The Art Newspaper, the new Herzog & de Meuron-designed museum in Berlin's central Kulturforum arts district is needed because "the Neue Nationalgalerie can only display about a quarter of Berlin’s vast stores of 20th-century art at any given time."

Current situation at the planned site for the new museum with Mies van der Rohe's Neue Nationalgalerie from 1968 on the left. Photo: Miriam Guterland/Wikimedia Commons.

San Francisco releases new proposed budget to tackle city housing and homelessness

2019-06-04T20:46:00-04:00

Mayor London Breed’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year will soar by $1.2 billion — making it the largest in city history — and boost investment in tackling the city’s most urgent problems: housing and homelessness.

The housing and homelessness crisis in major cities, especially in San Francisco, has been an ongoing issue. Mayor London Breed met with city officials and San Francisco residents to address new plans to address solutions towards the increased initiative towards housing and homelessness. With an increase in this coming fiscal budget, the Mayor and Board of Supervisors have decided to spend it on replacing the older dilapidated public housing units in the city as well as add 1,000 affordable and market-rate homes to the area. During her public proposal Breed stressed the new spending plan would focus on "equity and accountability for all" especially those in overlooked communities like Sunnydale.

"It's all about housing," Breed said at the Sunnydale event. "We all know the cost of housing is too high. We all know the problem did not happen overnight and will not be solved overnight." With this increased budget, there will be challenges. However, this has not slowed Breed's focus on i...

Trump's 2019 budget includes another attempt at defunding NEA and other cultural agencies

2018-02-14T14:12:00-05:00

The White House has revealed its budget proposal for 2019 and despite recommending a $716 billion spending increase for defense, Trump wants to slash funding for cultural programs. He has suggested cutting the NEA's budget from $150m down to $29m. Other cultural organizations would also see their budgets broken—Trump's plan would cut funding for the National Endowment of Humanities from $150m down to just $42m, the Institute of Museum and Library Services from $231m to $23m, and public television from $495m to just $15m.

Last year, when the President first took office, he similarly tried to institute significant cuts to these federal programs. Despite his best efforts, Congress—who has the final say on passing the federal budget each year—ultimately ended up retaining funding for the various cultural organizations in bipartisan agreement. Beyond being extremely important to the well-being of the country in general, these agencies also support many architectural initiatives that are ...

The AIA responds to the Trump Administration budget for the Fiscal Year 2018

2017-03-22T12:20:00-04:00

Last week, the Trump administration submitted its budget to Congress for the 2018 Fiscal Year. The budget included slashing several programs, many of which will affect community projects.

In response, the AIA has issued a statement:

"This budget includes many cuts that will have severe long-term ramifications for our communities and economy. It does away with programs that foster a cleaner environment and strong neighborhoods and it eliminates programs with a proven track record of job creation in the design and construction industry.

"We are concerned about a proposed 31 percent cut in the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Within EPA alone, 50 programs and 3,200 positions would be eliminated. Future federal support for the National Endowment for the Arts, which provides grants to architecture programs and conferences sponsored by the AIA, is also being cut.

"The Federal government plays a vital role in promoting community development, performing research into sustain...

Elaine Chao wants speedier approvals for DOT's infrastructure projects

2016-12-22T16:22:00-05:00

Nominee for Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao laid out her vision for DOT should the senate confirm her, and it's heavy on lifting regulations while breezing past funding issues. According to Politico:

Chao said she wants to reduce "regulatory burdens when appropriate." And she hopes to speed up project approvals regardless of whether infrastructure programs get a funding boost. “With or without a new infusion of funds, it is necessary to look at the existing processes for infrastructure development and find more efficient ways to address bottlenecks in planning and permitting,” Chao said. That response indicates Chao isn’t assuming Congress will pass a large infrastructure spending package.

For more on Trump's political cabinet of curiosities:

Efficiency-enhancing drones could dramatically reduce construction costs

2016-09-27T13:32:00-04:00

According to this Fortune article, it's estimated that the construction industry wastes billions of dollars annually in poorly organized and distributed materials, a practice that could be eliminated with omnipresent flying drones. The trick is to create software that can process what the drones see on each construction site into data that humans can quickly comprehend and efficiently implement. Autodesk is investing in developing software and hardware that can convey this information, which may dramatically cut construction costs (and perhaps make architects rethink how they bill for projects).

For more on drones:

California pledges to pick up (some of the) cost overruns of LA 2024 Olympic bid

2016-04-14T18:19:00-04:00

The Associated Press reports a California legislative panel advanced a bill Tuesday committing the state to cover up to $250 million in cost overruns as part of Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Senate Governmental Organization Committee approved the bill in a 7-0 vote after proponents said they’re confident they can provide the Games without the serious deficits that have challenged other recent host cities. They pointed to Los Angeles’ profitable hosting of the 1984 Olympics.

Previously in the Archinect news:

Clickbait is making affordable housing even more of an uphill battle

2016-03-08T13:50:00-05:00

when media outlets report cost of materials as being some $13,000, I want to know what was donated in terms of materials, too. Were permit fees waived? There are many times when you need a licensed architect or engineer for certain permits, and that’s not likely in these totals. It is completely fine to get around having to do that stuff, but it’s not truthful to report the results without the real numbers as a part of the story. These kinds of things get shared around...

Related on Archinect:

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.

Leaky gutter at unfinished Vikings stadium adds $3M - $4M to cost overruns

2016-02-22T13:18:00-05:00

Mortenson Construction Vice President John Wood said stadium designers and builders will cover the cost, so it won’t be added to the overall budget or cost taxpayers or the team any money. [...] the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority tentatively agreed to pay Mortenson $16 million for cost overruns even though the final figures are still being tallied. The authority is overseeing construction of the $1.1 billion stadium and approved the payment to resolve a mediation claim by Mortensen.

Related on Archinect:

The fascinating DIY architecture of these Hungarian summer houses brings back childhood memories

2015-08-18T12:38:00-04:00

One of the strangest places in Hungary lies beside the Tisza River in a village called Gergelyiugornya. Hugged by a bend in the river, it’s a relatively narrow, woody flood basin area packed with small cottages that show an incredibly wide variety of architectural designs and creativity. [...] Most of these houses were built in the 80s, when the workers of socialist Hungary were allowed to build for themselves on small plots of land.

All photos by Attila Nagy. Head over to Gizmodo to continue the architectural walking tour through Gergelyiugornya village and discover more goodies.

Santiago Calatrava: Career highlights still to come

2015-06-09T15:00:00-04:00

This week Calatrava defended his projects. “The reality is that throughout my career I’ve tackled projects in Spain that I’m proud of,” he told Spanish daily El Mundo. [...] At 63 years old, Calatrava said he hoped the best of his career was still to come. “Many of the architects I admire have given the best of themselves as they mature,” he said. “I’m hoping to do the same.”

Previously:

NYMag talks to Santiago Calatrava about his WTC Station, budget, reputation

2015-03-12T13:41:00-04:00

Calatrava told me that it wasn’t his job to monitor the budget. “It is very difficult,” he said. “I have never estimated anything in this project, because there was a whole team, maybe 25 people, working the whole time on cost estimation and cost control. But I kept looking at those fellows and telling them this is like geology: You only know what you have under your feet when you excavate.”

How Cost of Train Station at World Trade Center Swelled to $4 Billion

2014-12-03T14:20:00-05:00

The current, temporary trade center station serves... only 10,000 more than use the unassuming 33rd Street PATH terminal in Midtown Manhattan. In fact, the hub, or at least its winged “Oculus” pavilion, could turn out to be more of a high-priced mall than a transportation nexus, attracting more shoppers than commuters. The company operating the mall, Westfield Corporation, promises in a promotional video that it will be “the most alluring retail landmark in the world.”

Budget Busters: ranking the world's most overbudget monuments

2014-10-17T18:22:00-04:00

Damningly described as ‘hell on wheels’, ‘malice in blunderland’, and ‘a field of dreams’; welcome to a run-down of some of the world’s most eye-wateringly over-budget projects.

After adjusting costs for inflation and converting into US Dollars, Podio put together a simple, nifty visualization of the world's most over-budget monuments. Unsurprisingly, Olympic and large infrastructure projects rank high, with projects like Healthcare.gov and the International Space Station thrown in the mix for comparison.

Check out the projects below in the interactive infographic:

(via Podio).

How much are curators really paid?

2014-07-18T14:30:00-04:00

Many in the art world were staggered by recent reports that the Italian curator Germano Celant is being paid €750,000 to organise a pavilion for the Milan Expo 2015. Celant’s fee, and the incredulity it provoked, raises questions about how much curators are typically paid for organising biennials and large-scale international exhibitions. The Art Newspaper surveyed around 40 international curators and biennial organisers [...].

Stadium Sticker Shock: Costs Explode for Russia's 2018 World Cup

2014-07-17T14:19:00-04:00

Moscow wants to make Russia the "center of the sporting world," but the price tag will be steep. Four years before the 2018 World Cup, costs are exploding in the next host country, with the two most important stadiums each costing more than a billion euros.

Construction of New NATO Headquarters in Brussel Overbudget

2014-01-20T14:35:00-05:00

NATO is building a new headquarters for one billion euros. But the construction consortium is in financial difficulties and the project is at risk of being halted.

Watch a 2008 video interview below with lead architect Jo Palma of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill discussing the ideas behind the design of the building.

More European key projects in dire financial troubles:

The Artist is present in the Bronx

2013-09-17T14:30:00-04:00

Art Critique Of Gramsci Monument: A Work in Public Space by Thomas Hirschhorn at Forest Houses, the Bronx, New York.

Thomas Hirschhorn’s Gramsci Monument, a temporary public art work sponsored by the Dia Foundation now on view at Forest Houses in the Bronx, reportedly cost $500,000 to construct.1 If you try accounting for its material costs in plywood, nails, tarps, and packing tape, and still come up $490,000 short, you are not alone. The Swiss-born Hirschhorn is the type of Continental sophisticate who traffics in the naive. A regular on the Kunsthalle circuit, he knows how to work the levers of funding while enjoying the representation of a high-rolling Chelsea gallery, all in advancement of his phony patois. As a general contractor, he also deserves to be stripped of his license. Hirschhorn makes things that are worth less than the tape they are wrapped in. As it happens, obsessively wrapping junk in packing tape, thus furthering its decrepitude until it devolves into Hirschhorn junk, is his stock in trade. His shoddy constructions are poststructural manifestations representing the inverse o...

Flinders Street redesign may never come to life

2013-08-09T20:22:00-04:00

Premier Dennis Napthine announced HASSEL + Herzog & de Meuron as the winners of the state government's competition for the redesign of the iconic station, but the plan for the redevelopment itself has been met with a degree of skepticism from some. On top of the $1.6m spent on the competition, Napthine estimates that the realisation of the plans would cost $1 to $1.5b and would take over a decade to be built. The state government has not yet committed to its completion.

Previously:

HASSELL + Herzog & de Meuron Win Flinders Street Station Competition
Big Names on Flinders Street Station Shortlist - Public Voting Now

PATH/Fail: The Story of the World’s Most Expensive Train Station

2013-05-24T18:56:00-04:00

At $3.74 billion, plus another $200 million in contingencies, the “Transportation Hub” at the World Trade Center—not even the busiest station in the Financial District—will be far and away the most expensive train station built in modern history. The Hub, as it’s known in Port Authority speak, will be the crowning artistic statement of the World Trade Center complex, perhaps the last grand gesture at a site that was supposed to be full of them.

Hirshhorn ‘Bubble’ risks operating at a loss, internal Smithsonian report says

2013-05-16T13:13:00-04:00

The Hirshhorn Museum’s proposed Seasonal Inflatable Structure, also known as “the Bubble,” a project announced in 2009 and intended as an architecturally and culturally transformative space on the Mall, would operate at a loss in each of three scenarios examined in an assessment done by the Smithsonian.

“We’ve said from the beginning, and the secretary [G. Wayne Clough] has said it, this is a bold project,” said Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian’s undersecretary for history, art and culture. “We’ve encouraged this, but it has to be raised by private money. In terms of doing that, we’re still trying to raise money for construction of the Inflatable Structure. We’ve been at this for some years. We hope its time has come now, but if not, we look forward to a better time.”

Apple Submits Revised Campus 2 Plans, Delays Tantau Development to Cut Costs

2013-04-25T18:59:00-04:00

In order to trim 300,000 square feet of construction costs from its budget, Apple has pushed the entire Tantau Development to Phase 2, which means it will be completed after the main campus is built. Apple's revised campus plan includes the addition of an expanded section detailing bicycle access improvements, which comes with an included visualization of what bike pathways and sidewalks might look like on the campus.

Download all the revised plans from Cupertino.org

Apple HQ building balloons to an estimated $5 billion

2013-04-08T18:55:00-04:00

Since 2011, the budget for Apple’s Campus 2 has ballooned from less than $3 billion to nearly $5 billion, according to five people close to the project who were not authorized to speak on the record. If their consensus estimate is accurate, Apple’s expansion would eclipse the $3.9 billion being spent on the new World Trade Center complex in New York, and the new office space would run more than $1,500 per square foot—three times the cost of many top-of-the-line downtown corporate towers.

A Prefab, Short on the Fab

2012-04-19T15:52:00-04:00

Affordability, along with a minimalist aesthetic, were the reasons she decided on a prefab house — points on which Mr. Buryk, who had years before remodeled a 100-year-old house in Portland, Ore., wholeheartedly agreed. “I, similar to Zoe, was coming from a place of not wanting to do that again,” he said. But it wasn’t quite as affordable as they had hoped. The house cost $260,000 to build, from start to finish (the kit itself was $47,000) — nearly $100,000 more than they’d expected.

Hamburg sues over Herzog & de Meuron's pricey, late concert hall

2012-02-22T12:49:00-05:00

The city was initially prepared to contribute €77 million to the project – but this figure has since gone up by nearly five times to more than €323 million – more than half the expected €600 million total cost. And the original completion date of 2010 has been pushed back to 2014. The building’s designers had underestimated certain costs – such as an acoustic panelling for the main concert hall which cost five times as much as expected, adding more than €10 million to the bill.

9/11 Museum Is Delayed

2011-11-22T16:28:18-05:00

The planned 2012 opening of the Sept. 11 museum at the World Trade Center is in jeopardy amid a dispute over hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected costs related to redeveloping the site, people familiar with the matter said.