Archinect - News

Brininstool + Lynch is closing after 34 years, ParkFowler Plus emerges

2023-02-22T18:38:00-05:00

The Chicago-based firm formerly known as Brininstool + Lynch has announced it is disbanding after being a mainstay on the city's architectural scene for 34 years.

“While our hearts are heavy, we believe that there can be no Brininstool + Lynch without Lynch,” part of a statement from founding partner David Brininstool reads. “Over the past months, we began a deliberate, thoughtful transition process with the intention of saying an emotional goodbye to Brininstool + Lynch. This is not a farewell. We know that the best way to honor what came before is to invent what comes after. And we know that the legacy of this important firm will continue to reverberate — in memories and conversations, in pedagogy and publications, and, most important, in buildings that have reshaped the landscape in Chicago and beyond.”

The firm lost its co-founder, Brininstool’s former Pappageorge Haymes collea...

C. F. Møller closes London office after 18 years

2023-01-18T19:13:00-05:00

One of Europe’s largest and most successful firms is downsizing after C. F. Møller announced the closure of its London operations last week.

According to a report in AJ, the office had reported losses totaling £211,000 ($260,421) between 2019 and 2021. The firm’s sole UK outpost was opened in 2004 and entered into the liquidation process in late December after its two top directors resigned earlier in the month.

Among the projects completed during its two decade timespan includes the housing segment of the 2012 Olympics Athletes’ Village, multiple museum commissions, and several housing schemes mostly geared toward sustainability benchmarks and and their dual focus on green infrastructure.

Greenwich Peninsula Low Carbon Energy Center by C.F. Møller Architects. Image copyright: Mark Hadden. From "The Architect's Power in Tomorrow's Energy Infrastructure"

“We see this typology as one that a young, small practice of three or four individuals could engage with and gain recognition from,...

The Louvre's attendance in 2021 dropped to 1986 levels

2022-01-07T16:55:00-05:00

The Musée du Louvre welcomed only 2.8 million visitors last year, less than 30% of its pre-Covid record levels when it received around ten million. The Louvre has not seen such low figures since 1986, before the opening of the glass pyramid and the Grand Louvre project which steadily boosted attendance over the past four decades.

This level of attendance is nearly the same as the previous year, however French museums were closed for one month less in 2021 than in 2020. According to an official source at the culture ministry, general attendance at French museums dropped by 60-70% for the second year compared to pre-covid levels. The current omicron surge stifles hope for a comeback in museum attendance in 2022.

This comes as museums across Europe, specifically those in Denmark, the Netherlands, and London, have closed due to new covid lockdown measures in response to omicron.

Previously on Archinect: Museums are closing across Europe as Omicron variant rapidly spreads

Museums are closing across Europe as Omicron variant rapidly spreads

2021-12-20T19:50:00-05:00

Museums in Denmark and the Netherlands will close as part of new coronavirus lockdown measures being imposed in both countries in reaction to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the disease. The announcements have been met with resignation and disappointment as it will mean further strain on the already stretched museum sector after nearly two years of sporadic closures and reduced capacity.

In London, the Natural History Museum is closed until December 27th due to staffing shortages caused by Covid. The Wellcome Collection and the Foundling Museum in London have also decided to shut down amid the surge. These closures come without the UK government declaring any mandates for these institutions to close their doors. On the other hand, national mandates in both the Netherlands and Denmark have closed all non-essential establishments and public venues until mid-January.

In the US, with New York City reporting record numbers of daily Covid cases, no major institutions have closed. As it stands, another shutdown is out of the equation.

China's record-breaking glass bridge already closed again after two weeks

2016-09-13T14:40:00-04:00

A glass-bottomed bridge in China that was heralded as a record-breaker when it opened just 13 days ago has closed. Officials said the government was planning urgent maintenance work in the area and the bridge closed on Friday, with a re-opening time to be announced. [...] He said there had been no accidents and the bridge was not cracked or broken. [...] The bridge can accommodate 8,000 visitors a day but the spokesman told CNN that 10 times as many people wanted access daily.

Yibada reports that the bridge upgrades were going as scheduled and that the attraction was set to re-open to the public this week.

Previously in the Archinect news:

LA mayor Eric Garcetti slow-jams 101 freeway closure announcement

2016-02-08T15:41:00-05:00

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti summoned his inner crooner and released a music video Thursday to warn drivers of an impending 40-hour traffic headache -- the #101SlowJam. Flanked by the Theodore Roosevelt High School Jazz Band, Garcetti sings a tune reminiscent of the "Slow Jam the News" segment on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon."

"See we're bringing down the 6th Street Bridge, making way for something new and the demolition will cause delays," Garcetti says in the video. "But sometimes, just sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty to build something beautiful." – Infrastructure never felt so sexy.

University of Maryland postpones Architecture Library closure after backlash

2014-08-14T13:16:00-04:00

University officials have postponed closure of the Architecture Library after receiving backlash from graduate students and alumni. The library was set to close before the fall semester because of budget and safety issues and lack of use, Libraries Dean Patricia Steele said last week. [...] To save the library, graduate student Adam Chamy started a petition, which has received more than 500 signatures.

FAT Announces The End of Its Practice

2013-12-16T13:34:00-05:00

Following on from the completion of a number of architecturally significant projects, directors Sean Griffiths, Charles Holland and Sam Jacob believe that, with the conclusion of these final projects, FAT will have achieved all it set out to do when the practice first emerged in the 1990's. FAT was always conceived as a project in itself, a vehicle for critically opening up the culture of architecture rather than purely a conventional architectural practice.

Colorado design/build firm's projects under scrutiny

2011-11-29T18:58:30-05:00

Structural issues have emerged at another school being constructed by the Neenan Co., a major builder of rural Colorado schools that already has admitted making mistakes that closed an $18.9 million school in Meeker.