Archinect - News

NEOM launches Siranna resort concept on the Gulf of Aqaba

2023-12-04T17:42:00-05:00

Another high-end luxury resort complex has been revealed in Saudi Arabia as part of the country’s NEOM megadevelopment on the Gulf of Aqaba.

The new Siranna development will include a 65-key hotel in addition to 35 “exclusive” residences geared toward tourists and complement the previous Leyja and Epicon resort concepts that were announced this year.

Image courtesy NEOM

Guests will be transited to the destination via water taxis, emerge from the Red Sea surf, and pass through a gateway of natural rock formations to find a tiered approach to the outcropping of hexagonal volumes that spring up from the surrounding landscape like shards of crystals.

Image courtesy NEOM

Paolo Testolini, the Dubai-based Principal and Global Sector Leader of Cities and Places for Woods Bagot’s UAE operation, appears in a promotional video as the architect that will lead its design. His colleague Nik Karalis appears also to be involved, stating that the concept will help “redefine our notions of what touri...

Peter Marino debuts signature handbag for Louis Vuitton

2022-10-20T11:25:00-04:00

Peter Marino is one of six artists included in the latest update of Louis Vuitton’s signature Artycapucines handbag collection. The incorrigible leatherdaddy and designer of several of the brand’s flagship locations says his all-black contribution was inspired by a medieval strongbox he discovered while visiting a 14th century Venetian palace.

He joins Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama, Sol LeWitt, and other artists to have been featured in the now 9-year-old collection. Bags go for €8,000 but are still rugged enough for everyday wear, despite the dual sculptural qualities he also preferred.

“It was a fun challenge,” Marino recently told WWD. “I design furniture for Vuitton; I design carpets and doorknobs, so it’s very much in the vein of what I do for them. This is not a wussie handbag,”

Why not give Drake’s Toronto mansion a virtual tour this Holiday weekend?

2021-11-27T14:02:00-05:00

If you’re reading this it’s not too late: Die-hard Drake fans looking for a little architectural distraction during the American holiday, which was a byproduct of the Civil War, can now find respite in the form of a new virtual tour of the Grammy winner’s massive 19th-century limestone private residence in Canada.

A screenshot of the house courtesy Drake Related

The Birdle Path, Toronto manse first made its rounds on the internet after starring in Drake’s 2020 music video for Toosie Slide.

A screenshot of the house's lounge area courtesy Drake Related

Coming in at exactly 50,000-square-feet, Ferris Rafauli’s vision features a full-size NBA court and aesthetic enhancements like Nero Marquina marble floor inserts, a marble kitchen island and bath tub, and a custom marble chandelier (there’s marble everywhere). One thing that I find is a bit unsettling: he’s got a closet full of Birkin bags for his “future wife.”

You can buy all kinds of shit while you're on the tour there as well. Nike...

$500 million Bel Air megamansion defaults on $165 million debt, enters receivership

2021-09-09T15:32:00-04:00

A Los Angeles megamansion once expected to list for $500 million has gone into receivership after the owner defaulted on more than $165 million in loans and debt, according to court filings. The 105,000-square-foot Bel Air estate, known as “The One,” was placed into receivership by the Los Angeles County Superior Court and is expected to be relisted at a lower price in the coming months, according to people familiar with the property.

In July, the Los Angeles County Superior Court named Ted Lanes of Lanes Management as receiver, who is now tasked with preparing "The One" for sale and selling it to recoup debts owed to lenders. The megamansion is expected to be listed on the market in the coming months once Lanes secures the proper permits and certificate of occupancy. The price and timing haven’t been determined yet, said Lanes.

Previously on Archinect: The half-billion-dollar Bel Air giga-mansion is still looking for a buyer

“What I would love to see happen is that the house gets completed, the certificate of occupancy is awarded, and we have an orderly sale that maximizes the value,” Lanes shared. “Hopefully, there will be sufficient proceeds from the sale to fund the secured and unsecured creditors and for the equity to realize some value.”

As stated by CNBC, it’s currently unclear whether "The One" will sell at a high enough price to pay off all the debt.

ABIBOO Studio pulls from their expertise in space architecture to develop a luxury doomsday bunker

2021-01-07T16:19:00-05:00

2020 taught us to embrace the indoors. However, as the world enters 2021, some may feel more propelled to seek out shelters that can protect them from calamity. At least that's how the New York and Miami-based practice ABIBOO Studio explains their latest project, the DBX Doomsday Bunker.

Led by Spanish architect and designer Alfredo Munoz, the firm's work focuses on many design projects that revolve around architecture, technology, interiors, and research and development. Munoz is also a member of the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) and recognized on an exclusive list of Space Architects. Here he pulls from the firm's expertise in space architecture and luxury living to develop DBX.

"The shelter can accommodate up to two family groups and a maximum of ten people. It occupies 12,000 square feet and is accessed through a lifting military-grade door camouflaged on a green-covered hill." Project visual and description courtesy of ABIBOO Studio

"The entrance i...

Photos of Renzo Piano's first residential building in Miami

2020-03-02T19:48:00-05:00

Renzo Piano Building Workshop recently celebrated the completion of Eighty Seven Park, the firm's first residential building in Miami.

Designed for developers Terra and Bizzi & Partners Development, the 200-foot-tall condo tower made headlines in 2018 when the 18th-floor, six-bedroom, 11-bathroom penthouse hit the market at a Florida record-setting asking price of $68 million.

French studio RDAI envisioned the building's interior design, and Rotterdam's West 8 were in charge of the landscape design.

Photo: The Boundary, image courtesy Eighty Seven Park.

"The site is the last piece of land north of North Shore Open Space Park at the limit of the city of Miami Beach," explains RPBW's project description. "The main idea of the project is to enhance the presence of the green space in the area of North Shore Park, by extending the green area to the 87th Terrace at the northern limit of the project site."

Photo: Douglas Friedman, image courtesy Eighty Seven Park.

"Reducing the footprint of...

A closer look inside Renzo Piano's newly completed residential tower in Manhattan

2019-12-10T18:55:00-05:00

A few weeks after Renzo Piano completed the high-end 565 Broome SoHo, more photos of the Italian architect's first residential project in New York City have been revealed. The luxury condominium building was developed by real estate firms Bizzi & Partners Development, Aronov Development, and Halpern Real Estate Ventures, and Parisian practice Rena Dumas Architecture Interieure (RDAI) was in charge of the interiors. Renzo Piano Building Workshop collaborated with SLCE Architects.

Photo: Adrian Gaut / Edge Reps.

According to Renzo Piano, the design of the 17,000-square-foot tower was “shaped by light,” which led him to create conjoined glass structures with curved corners and an exterior of “low-iron” reflective glass. Inside, the building contains 115 light-filled residential units—ranging from studios to four-bedroom condos—that maximize views of the city. For the interiors, RDAI wanted to deliver a cohesive design that pr...

Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed Brooklyn Point luxury tower tops out

2019-04-17T14:39:00-04:00

Topping out at 720 feet this week, Extell Development Company's Brooklyn Point is on its way to becoming the NYC borough's tallest building.

Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox with custom interiors by Katherine Newman, the 68-story tower will be located at 138 Willoughby Street and within City Point, a 600,000-square-foot development of retail, dining, and entertainment.

Courtesy of Brooklyn Point.

Designed with a sculptural facade that gives the tower “an elegant solidity” as KPF Design Principal Rob Whitlock describes, Brooklyn Point includes 458 luxury units that range from studios to three-bedroom residences starting at $850,000, as well as over 40,000 square-feet of indoor and outdoor lifestyle amenities and services.

Rooftop pool. Courtesy of Brooklyn Point.

Northward nighttime view from the 63rd floor. Courtesy of Brooklyn Point.

On the ninth floor, NY-based Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects designed a landscaped outdoor retreat that will offer a sun deck, dining, a bar, putting ...

Is New York's Hudson Yards a playground for billionaires or a budding new urban landscape?

2019-02-25T21:16:00-05:00

On March 15, after 12 years of planning and six of construction, the Related Companies will open the gates to its new $25 billion enclave [...] Besides being big, Hudson Yards represents something fundamentally new to New York. It’s a one-shot, supersized virtual city-state, plugged into a global metropolis but crafted to the specifications of a single boss: Related’s chairman, Stephen Ross

New York's new Hudson Yards is a preview of what major cities may look like in the next few years. Upon first glance, the new complex oozes a distinct look. Some might call it progressive luxury design, others may think otherwise. However, the 12 year project has several people looking to stake a claim at the chance to live in new development. The complex is said to be a one-stop shop of amenities and luxury living, however, does the new complex belong in New York's urban landscape of historic grit?

Hudson Yards, Image by Timothy Schenck for Related-Oxford Source: Business Insider

According to New York Magazine's Justin Davidson, his feelings towards to the new structure is a response many are probably thinking. "I can't help feeling like an alien here, as though I've crossed from real New York, with all its jangling mess, into a movie studio's back-lot version. Everything is too clean, too flat, too art-directed." It goes without saying that since the project's announcement many hav...

Form follows finance: NYC's pencil towers for the ultrawealthy

2019-02-07T14:28:00-05:00

Any visitor to New York over the past few years will have witnessed this curious new breed of pencil-thin tower. Poking up above the Manhattan skyline like etiolated beanpoles, they seem to defy the laws of both gravity and commercial sense. They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors, raw extrusions of capital piled up until it hits the clouds.

In his latest long-form piece, The Guardian architecture critic Oliver Wainwright shows how the advent of the new 'pencil tower' building type is rapidly transforming New York City's skyline, digs in the history of zoning laws, and explains how "air rights" allow (an abundance of) cash to buy a piece of the Manhattan sky.

Photo: Maciek Lulko/Flickr

"Like leggy plants given too much fertiliser, these buildings are a symptom of a city irrigated with too much money," writes Wainwright. "The world’s population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, a super-elite with assets of at least $30m, has now mushroomed beyond 250,000 people, all in need of somewhere to store their wealth. More than a third of them are based in North America, while those from riskier economic climes favour New York real estate as one of the safest places to park their cash."

Megapenthouse at Stern-designed 220 Central Park South sells for $238M, now the most expensive home sold in the U.S.

2019-01-25T15:45:00-05:00

Hedge funder Ken Griffin has closed on a massive penthouse at 220 Central Park South, paying a record-shattering $238 million, according to sources familiar with the deal. The Citadel founder has long been rumored as the buyer of the condominium’s most lavish spread — a 23,000-square-foot quadplex encompassing the 50th through 53rd floors of the limestone tower, developed by Vornado Realty Trust and designed by Robert A.M. Stern. The asking price was $250 million.

After Ken Griffin dropped a sweet quarter billion on his new NYC digs, he didn't appear entirely penniless and recently secured a few other neat places to crash when traveling to London, Chicago, or Miami. "Earlier this week, he reportedly scooped up a house in London for around $122 million," reports The Real Deal. "In 2017, he shelled out $58.75 million for several floors of No. 9 Walton, a condominium in Chicago, and in 2015, set a record in Miami be shelling out $60 million for a penthouse at Faena House."

From Malibu to London to Sydney, the most expensive homes sold in 2018

2018-12-31T16:11:00-05:00

It is clear not everyone is tightening the purse strings in tougher economic times following a year of record-smashing home sales in 2018. Despite global boom-time economies starting to wane, the big spenders were still out in force snapping up some of the most expensive properties on the planet right up until the end of the year.

A round-up of the world's five priciest homes sold in 2018, plus another three that are still on the market in case you're looking for a swanky new abode in 2019.

UNStudio Asia completes yacht-inspired Keppel Cove Marina & Clubhouse in Zhongshan

2018-07-11T15:16:00-04:00

Located along the banks of the Xi River in Zhongshan in Guangdong, the Keppel Cove Marina & Clubhouse is UNStudio Asia's latest completed project. The 50,000 square-meter masterplan comprises a marina with direct access to the Xi River, a service building, high-end residential villas and supporting infrastructure, including a bridge, roads, and surrounding external dykes. The project is also the first and only marina with a private port of immigration in all of China.

Photo: Tom Roe.

Featuring a facade made from bronze-colored aluminum panels, the Clubhouse was designed to resemble a yacht, UNStudio describes, that offers visitors a relaxing space and luxurious amenities for business or leisure. The shape of the building and its surrounding landscape were “derived and developed based on the main access routes to the clubhouse, in combination with the most attractive view lines. In a smooth transition, spaces radiate outwards in an organic fan shape, away...

Jean Nouvel's MoMA luxury tower 53W53 tops out at 1,050 feet tall

2018-06-15T15:39:00-04:00

Back in January, the Jean Nouvel-designed MoMA tower was on the heels of reaching its full 82-story height and now, that milestone has been accomplished. Last week, the long-awaited supertall, named 53W53, topped out and it now stands at 1,050 feet tall, tying with the New York Times building and the Chrysler Building as the city’s sixth tallest building.

Jean Nouvel's ultra-luxurious MoMA tower 53W53 is now topped out to its full height at 1,050 feet. Once completed, the tower will include 145 residential units designed by Thierry Despont, amenities, and new MoMA galleries and a restaurant that are expected to open in 2019. You can check out recent construction photos of the tower on the blog Field Condition.

How the infinity pool became a social media status symbol

2018-03-26T19:02:00-04:00

To Skip Phillips, consumer-driven demand has moved the infinity pool away from its original design premise of blending with the landscape. It doesn’t have to be a vertical drop, like that at Marina Bay Sands. “The impetus for this came from the buying public,” and, he adds, “an uneducated pool industry.” To understand how the infinity pool became a status symbol, it’s important to realize that “wellness” is a luxury commodity.

This Outline piece by Daisy Alioto dives into the origins of the vanishing edge infinity pool, which now — thanks to a lot of help from social media — has evolved into a trendy symbol of luxury.

The half-billion-dollar Bel Air giga-mansion is still looking for a buyer

2018-03-05T14:14:00-05:00

The construction of this and other so-called giga-mansions underscores a new gilded age in the United States and especially in LA. [...] The splurge comes amid a housing shortage that has fuelled a homelessness crisis, with 57,000 people without permanent shelter in LA county [...]. The Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez compared the city’s hilltop mansions to giant tombstones marking the death of humility.

The Guardian takes a peek into the world of ultra-luxury real estate developer Niles Niami whose latest endeavor—the sprawling Bel Air hilltop giga-mansion with its four swimming pools, 20 bedrooms, movie theater, and nightly club aptly called The One—frequently makes the news for being America's priciest home. Clocking in at $500m, the property is still waiting for a billionaire buyer.

New interior renderings revealed of Aston Martin's luxury apartment tower in Miami

2018-02-28T14:07:00-05:00

After breaking ground on its first-ever real estate project last fall (the aptly named Aston Martin Residences in downtown Miami), British automaker Aston Martin has unveiled never-before-seen renderings of the building’s amenity spaces.

Aston Martin's first venture into branded luxury real estate broke ground in Downtown Miami last fall and is expected to welcome its deep-pocketed residents in 2021. Until then, check out these new renderings of some of the amenities at the Aston Martin Residences tower.

Aston Martin Residences/G&G Business Developments

"The newly released renderings reveal common areas with floor-to-ceiling walls of glass that overlook the water, floating staircases that connect the floors, and whimsical light fixtures," explains the marketing material. "In the gym, walls of glass look out to the water so residents can exercise while enjoying a stunning view; in the lobbies, neutral-hued furniture creates an inviting environment."

Architects want to bring back Venice's eclectic architectural character

2017-12-26T13:00:00-05:00

To many longtime residents, the cookie-cutter constructions stripped Venice of its distinctive architectural character, turning parts of the neighborhood into uniform eyesores. “Over the last year or two specifically, we’re seeing more chances being taken and more unique developments going up,” Lackey said. “This wave of architecture is great for Venice, which has always been a hub of individuality.”

Boring boxy developments have taken over Venice, California in the last 15 years, but in this LA Times piece, some architects think it's time for the coastal town to return to its eclectic architectural roots...currently in the form of multimillion-dollar luxury homes.

Aston Martin breaks ground on their first luxury apartment tower in Miami

2017-10-23T14:59:00-04:00

The condo venture is just one of the ways in which [Aston Martin] is diversifying into a general luxury brand, rather than just a car company...The 391 condos will sell for between $600,000 and $50 million, and include seven penthouses and a duplex penthouse with private pools. There will also be a spa, cinemas, and a virtual golf room, as well as direct access to a yacht marina. You get the picture.

From $4 million submarines to $4,000 baby strollers, luxury automaker Aston Martin is expanding their brand. Their latest venture is the Aston Martin Residences, a sail-shaped, 66-story apartment tower that broke ground in downtown Miami last week. Completion of the tower is currently slated for 2021.

Peter Marino designs Louis Vuitton store in Paris's Place Vendôme

2017-10-05T14:00:00-04:00

What could be more fitting as a symbol of rebirth in the City of Light, than a golden sun streaming spiralling metal rays? That’s the resplendent installation that Louis Vuitton visual creative director Faye Mcleod conceived for the façade of the maison’s new Peter Marino-designed Paris flagship.

Louis Vuitton moves back to Place Vendôme in the most expensive part of Paris. The store occupies two 18th centurary hôtel particuliers. On the building façade, shines a giant golden sun. Apart from this addition, the exterior has not been transformed. The interiors of the store are contemporary and thus, we can't blame the loss of their historical cachet to Marino—the building had already been redesigned in the 1980s to become an office space.

About the project Marino says "I thought I would juxtapose a modern aesthetic to everything within the walls and restore as beautifully and faithfully as possible the exterior. The balance between modern and old, is for me, what Paris is all about."

Another, now Versace-branded, luxury apartment tower to be built in London

2017-08-25T04:00:00-04:00

A property firm run by a business partner of US President Donald Trump has awarded a £250 million ($320 million) contract to developers for the construction of a "Versace-branded" skyscraper in London. Nine Elms Property awarded the contract to developers Multiplex for the construction of AYKON London One, a fifty-story tower to be built in central London at Nine Elms on the South Bank.

"The world's first Versace-branded tower", AYKON London One, valued at £590 million, will consist of fifty floors and 450 apartments from one to three bedrooms, interiors of which will be designed in partnership with luxury fashion house Versace and feature panoramic-view "winter gardens". In addition to residential units, the KPF-designed building will contain 10,000 square feet of "communal gardens", four floors devoted to office space, and a sky bridge between the two towers. Although the building is scheduled to be completed by 2022, forty-five percent of the apartments are said to be already pre-sold.

The multi-billion pound "regeneration" scheme of the River Thames bank, of which the AYKON London tower is a part of, also involves the construction of luxury apartments in Battersea Power Station and a new US embassy. As noted by Business Insider, Dubai-based Hussain Sajwani, who owns DAMAC International, the main developer in charge, is a close associate of Donald Trump.

A vending machine for luxury cars

2017-05-15T12:53:00-04:00

Forget about soft drinks and potato chips - a "vending machine" in Singapore is offering up luxury vehicles, including Bentleys, Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Used car seller Autobahn Motors opened a futuristic 15-story showroom in December, with vehicles on display in 60 slots, billing it as the "world's largest luxury car vending machine".

Check out these new renderings of the Herzog & de Meuron-designed 1111 Lincoln Residences in Miami

2017-03-27T12:45:00-04:00

Herzog & de Meuron, in collaboration with Robert Wennett, have designed a new, “smart” luxury residential complex in Miami Beach at 1111 Lincoln Residences. As seen in a new batch of almost-disturbingly hyperreal renderings, the residences are built around leafy, Raymond Jungles-designed courtyards with honed stoned floorings.

At a price tag of $3.8M, the 2,155 square foot, three-bedroom homes have 1,550 square feet of exterior space. Alongside the residential units, the project will include 100,000 square feet of office space, a multi-level parking garage and an event space.

Check out the massive new car elevators inside the Porsche Design Tower in Miami

2017-03-24T12:28:00-04:00

“What does [the Porsche] brand have to do with real estate?” It’s a good question, poised by the Miami developer Gil Dezer, who helped create the brand-new, 60-story, Sieger Suarez Architects-designed Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach, Miami.

Their answer? An elevator for cars. You know, for “car lovers and people who enjoy having their car next to them in their apartments”.

Not surprisingly, this demographic is also defined by their access to at least $5 million, the starting price for one of the tower’s 132 condos. The crowning jewel, a $32 million penthouse apartment, comes with a “car gallery” for seven of your eleven automobiles.

Driven by three high-tech hydraulic lifts, the elevators weight 30,000 lbs. and carry up to 8,000 lbs. Cars zoom up the black-glazed tower at 800 feet a minute.

h/t Miami Herald

Holing up in hoity-toity hovels: doomsday architecture for the super-wealthy

2017-01-24T17:25:00-05:00

Trump is President, the climate is chaos, and the wealth gap is starting to qualify as its own national canyon. So if you've got vats of money and are afraid of all the people who don't, what do you do? Build doomsday architecture to survive the collapse of society! In this piece for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos investigates the luxury bunkers of folks who realize that they'll probably need to plan to take the family of the pilot of their private jet with them, for, you know, maintenance issues (sigh):

Hall led me through the garage, down a ramp, and into a lounge, with a stone fireplace, a dining area, and a kitchen to one side. It had the feel of a ski condo without windows: pool table, stainless-steel appliances, leather couches. To maximize space, Hall took ideas from cruise-ship design. We were accompanied by Mark Menosky, an engineer who manages day-to-day operations. While they fixed dinner—steak, baked potatoes, and salad—Hall said that the hardest part of the project was susta...

The luxury apartment boom is about to come to a screeching halt

2017-01-04T13:13:00-05:00

The Wall Street Journal reports that the seven-year long boom in luxury apartment development is about to fizzle out. Since early 2010, U.S. apartment rents have risen more than 26%—a pace much faster than either inflation or income growth. This pattern began to slow last year, when rents rose just 3.8%. Faced with a superabundance of new apartments that outstrips demand, landlords are prepping to cut rents and offer concessions. According to the report, landlords in Los Angeles are starting to offer free parking while developers in New York are offering up to three months free rent.

A couple of years ago, several emerging demographic patterns led to a rush to build new luxury properties. Most notably, in the post-housing crash market, young, high-earning professionals were less likely to buy homes and instead headed back to the city. But the boom outpaced demand, and now major cities are chock-full of fancy digs with not enough wealthy folks to fill them.

Luxury condos sink in San Francisco's Millennium Tower

2016-08-03T12:36:00-04:00

San Francisco's Millennium Tower has been sinking at a rate of two inches per year since it was completed in 2008, which is about ten inches more than the builders had anticipated the building settling for its entire lifetime. Not to be boring, the tower is also tilting slightly to the northwest, giving the multi-million dollar residences within the building a slightly different view of the city and, perhaps, their investment. As the SFGate reports, while some blame the nearby Transbay Transit Center site dig for the sink, others noted that the building had sunk at least ten inches by the time the excavation began. But not to worry, officials say:

At the same time, geotechnical reports show that since 2009, the settling has been uneven — resulting in the 2-inch tilt.

And while Stanford’s Deierlein doesn’t consider the sink or tilt a safety issue, he did say, “I would be concerned for my investment.” That’s because a shifting building can cause walls to crack, elevators to malfunction...

New renderings of Tadao Ando's living wall in Manhattan

2016-06-30T13:27:00-04:00

As luxury condominiums go, 152 Elizabeth Street displays an unusual rigor and finesse: this is not an exercise in overindulgence, but in refined balance.

With its 32,000 square feet split between seven individual residences, Tadao Ando's floor-to-celling windowed, burnished metal, poured-in-place concrete structure also features a 55' x 99' living wall with vegetation that shifts seasonally for the ideal mix of color and texture. English Ivy, Boston Ivy, Virginia Creepers, Jasmine Clematis and climbing Hydrangeas will make up this constantly evolving green wall, a blend that was picked in part by landscape firm M. Paul Friedberg and Partners.

According to a press release, "the building’s design references four primary elements - light, sound, air, and water." Sited in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood, the design of 152 Elizabeth Street's interiors is a collaboration between Ando and Gabellini Sheppard Associates, the latter of which is serving as the architect of record.

Once likened t...

To live in London you can't be a Londoner

2016-05-27T01:00:00-04:00

Almost two-thirds of homes in the Tower, a 50-storey apartment complex in London, are in foreign ownership, with a quarter held through secretive offshore companies based in tax havens, a Guardian investigation has revealed. The first residents of the landmark development arrived in October 2013, but many of the homes are barely occupied, with some residents saying they only use them for a fraction of the year.

The kind of wealth that turns a home into a status symbol—and an underused status symbol at that, with occupancy rates of only a few weeks a year—is not easing London's housing crisis. As the city's housing rates push actual citizens to decamp to cheaper suburbs or simply leave the area altogether, London can look forward to being transformed into an empty stage set of a once thriving metropolis.

For a fuller perspective on London's housing problems:

To thrive post-Zaha, Koolhaas says ZHA should emulate high fashion brands

2016-05-17T17:44:00-04:00

Rem Koolhaas said Zaha Hadid Architects could survive the death of its founder if it feeds on her architectural DNA. [...] “I think there is a model these days where fashion houses survive by working on the DNA of their founders,” he said. “It is a model that is becoming more and more current and it could work in architecture too, I think.”

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