Archinect - News

Better Block Foundation, a nonprofit for open-source neighborhood design and ‘wikiblock’ urbanism, is hiring

2023-12-07T12:42:00-05:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for an Architect/Designer at Build Block, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Landscape Designer at the Better Block Foundation.

The role, based in Dallas, TX, “goes beyond the conventional office setting, requiring a genuine commitment to hands-on, physical work in the field,” according to the company. Among the responsibilities will be delivering site design and presentation materials, material sourcing and ordering, construction documents, and potential public speaking and development roles. “The Landscape Designer should be passionate about new urbanism and willing to swing a hammer, get paint on his/her clothing, answer volunteers’ questions, etc.,” the company adds. “This position is very hands-on.”

Before/After: Collaborative neighborhood placemaking. Image credit: The Better Block Foundation

Why the role interests us

The role at the Better Block Foundation offer...

UW-Milwaukee SARUP appoints Krisann Rehbein as director of Community Design Solutions

2023-08-08T18:02:00-04:00

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s newly-formed College of the Arts and Architecture has announced its appointment of Chicago-based artist and nonprofit leader Krisann Rehbein as the new director of Community Design Solutions (CDS).

The position, which is organized within the School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP), will engage with local community organizations to ensure the continued delivery of pro bono planning services such as the Turnkey Housing initiative and Green Schoolyards project that have, in addition to nearly 230 others, helped to garner praise for the institution over the past decade.

Mo Zell, the new ASCA President and Interim Dean of the College of the Arts and Architecture, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Krisann as the new director of CDS. Her vision for the future of the organization, which includes expanding the role that faculty will play in projects, and her expertise in design and community engagement will help advance the work of CDS and u...

Lucien Kroll, paragon of progressive architecture, passes away aged 95

2022-08-15T17:43:00-04:00

An influential figure in the realm of ecological design is being mourned after Le Monde reported the death of Belgian architect Lucien Kroll in Brussels on August 2nd at the age of 95.

The Atelier Kroll co-founder will be remembered for his foundational work in the arenas of green building and participatory architecture. Kroll is best known for his highly-collaborative 1976 La Mémé design on the campus of Belgium’s Catholic University of Louvain in addition to over 100 other projects he and his wife Simone Pelosse completed through the studio after its inception in 1958.

A 1966 residential project in Embourg, Belgium. Image: GAR-Archives d'architecture

A 1951 graduate of La Cambre (where he preceded Maurice Culot by a decade), Kroll’s early commitment to designing spaces “with” rather than “for” their users continued throughout his long career, eventually leading to them being named the Brussels Architecture Prize Lifetime Achievement Award winners just last year. His early-career d...

Adaptive reuse project transforms former Spanish prison into ethereal community center

2022-07-11T16:18:00-04:00

Adaptive reuse continues to be a powerful tool used to save, preserve, and reform older buildings. In Tarragona, Spain, Josep Ferrando Architecture collaborated with Gallego Arquitectura to transform the former Reus prison into the El Roser Social Centre.

In November 2021, Archinect reported the debate circulating in the U.S. around prison reuse. "The movement to design spaces that are actively working to undo some of the social harms caused by mass incarceration is still fairly nascent [...]." This newly-completed project in Tarragona follows a similar sentiment.

The architects explain that the building's rehabilitation and intervention establish "a dialectic between the new more ethereal, light, tectonic elements, and the composition and stereotomic mineral materials of the heavier existing structure."

"The rehabilitation of the building listed as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest and included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia." Image © Adrià Goula.

The f...

Maya Bird-Murphy and the Chicago Mobile Makers deepen their roots in community change with the opening of their new headquarters

2022-07-01T17:54:00-04:00

When reading through architectural media, it's easy for larger architecture firms or "prominent" names to rule headlines. However, many design practitioners and groups are making impactful changes in the industry and their communities beyond the media clout. This is the case for architectural designer, maker, and educator Maya Bird-Murphy, Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Mobile Makers.

If you're familiar with the Oak Park, Illinois native, it's due to her work with Chicago's local youth and her team of designers and educators leading workshops in their hard-to-miss repainted UPS trucks.

What started as a thesis project for Bird-Murphy during her time at Boston Architectural College soon grew into the award-winning non-profit it is today. After reflecting on her own experiences as a Black female architecture student and designer working in firms, she saw the need to increase diversity within the industry. The architect/non-profit founder soon realized this change in re...

From concept to development, wHY Architecture's youth arts center in East Palo Alto folds the community into the building process

2018-10-10T14:43:00-04:00

wHY Architecture's innovative partnership with EpaCenterArts has broken ground in East Palo Alto, coinciding with a community stakeholder event to celebrate the occasion on Saturday, October 13th.

The planned $50 million 21,000-square-foot EpaCenterArts, the construction for which began last month, will host an arts, design and music center for youth in the area. As one of the go-to designers for art spaces, Kulapat Yantrasast and his firm, which is currently working on the Asian Art Museum in nearby San Francisco, was a natural choice for the foundation.

Epacenter; Image by wHY + Luxingon.

Positioned at the center of Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto has struggled to maintain levels of equity among its residents as the region's booming tech economy continues to raise rents and home values. The youth center, funded by John & Marcia Goldman Foundation, is the result of a grassroots effort to address these external pressures by creating something for the community.

In response, Yantrasa...

Valdemar Coutinho Arquitectos completes concrete and wood sports facility in Portugal

2018-09-06T18:08:00-04:00

The Pavilhão do Atlântico sports facility by Valdemar Coutinho Arquitectos was recently completed this year in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The brutalist gymnasium was built to serve both the local Pedro Barbosa School and community.

Pavilhão do Atlântico by Valdemar Coutinho Arquitectos, located in Viana do Castelo, PT. Image: Joao Morgado.

The firm's design includes a 6997 sq. ft surface to accommodate volleyball and basketball, and includes four adjacent changing room blocks each with a capacity for 15 to 20 individuals.

Pavilhão do Atlântico by Valdemar Coutinho Arquitectos, located in Viana do Castelo, PT. Image: Joao Morgado.

The facility also includes an entrance space with a reception, surveillance area, and a cafeteria.

Pavilhão do Atlântico by Valdemar Couti...

Documentary showcases how architecture students of the University at Buffalo School are shaping the city

2018-07-19T16:11:00-04:00

"How do we bring a city not back to what it was, but what it needs to be in the future?" A new documentary at the Venice Architecture Biennale explores this question, showcasing how students of the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning are learning from and rebuilding the Rust Belt city around them.

Once a thriving American city, since the latter 20th century, Buffalo has seen a sharp population loss and growing inequality stemming from its industrial decline. As Buffalo rebounds, students and faculty of the University are becoming an integral part of this process. Whether it's working with local refugee entrepreneurs or revitalizing local fabrication and industry, students are using the city itself as a laboratory, deeply embedding themselves in the community and the challenges it faces.

Their work is currently being showcased at the Time Space Existence exhibition in Venice, through a new film and an accompanying catalog highlighting sites of faculty and stude...

Recycled plastic blocks are being used to create LEGO-like architecture

2018-01-10T13:37:00-05:00

A company in Colombia is tackling plastic waste issues and affordable housing with a single ingenious solution: interlocking LEGO-like bricks that can be used to build houses for a few thousand dollars per structure. Walls are formed using a slim slotted brick then framed using a thicker module used for beams and columns, locking the smaller units into place and providing rigid vertical and lateral support.

What to do with the heaps and mounds of plastic piling up all over our planet? Build LEGO's. Conceptos Plásticos' technological innovations make their plastic block homes cost only $5,000. The company is also using this new method to build emergency shelters, community and educational buildings.

These upcycled blocks are designed to be used by anyone regardless of construction experience. Conceptos Plásticos boasts building blocks that are fire and earthquake resistant, cost effective, and durable lasting about 500 years.

Apple's design flaw in its acclaimed Chicago store creates hazards for shoppers

2017-12-29T15:38:00-05:00

The recently opened Apple store in Chicago has been praised by one of the city’s papers as an “elegantly understated… boon to the city’s riverfront,” but perhaps that perception will change after the discovery of a significant design flaw.The structure’s ultra-thin carbon fiber roof was fashioned in the shape of a MacBook Pro but does not have any gutters to catch water, so melting snow has begun to turn into icicles and sliding snow that can harm pedestrians below.

Outside Apple's recent Chicago store signs read: "CAUTION Watch For Falling Snow and Ice" as noted by blogger Matt Maldre. The new design by Foster and Partners was intended as a “town square” experience for the community, and to serve as a flagship design for all future Apple stores. Unfortunately, this design has a flaw in it's carbon roof warding off Chicago shoppers to steer clear of the building.

The roof's lack of gutters creates a potential hazard as melting snow may fall directly on pedestrians. Matt Maldre comments in his blog, “Maybe next time Apple will consider the actual community where their stores are built [...] Y’know, basic things like in Chicago, the weather gets cold. It snows. The snow falls off the roof. Don’t design a sloping roof where the snow can’t be caught or guttered off somewhere.”

How Frank Gehry was won over to design the Watts Children's Institute pro bono

2016-10-21T13:44:00-04:00

"We explained what the agency does and what we stand for, and he gave me a handshake right there," offering to work pro bono. [...] Of his design — a series of two-story, garden-surrounded buildings that echo the modest scale of the neighborhood, their shiny roofs the only Gehry-esque note — he says: "This building is not fancy but has all of my heart and soul in it. I worked hard to make spaces for the kids and families that would use it so that they would feel special."

Gehry's Watts involvement previously in the Archinect news:

In honor of Guy Fawkes Day, check out these semi-regular communal fires

2015-11-05T13:42:00-05:00

November 5th marks the celebration of Guy Fawkes day in the U.K., in which bonfires are lit to celebrate the capture of the titular royal traitor and the subsequent preservation of the life of King James I in 1605.

Of course, lighting things on fire to commemorate dates isn't limited to the Brits: every October 30th, Detroit, Michigan braces for "Devil's Night," where structures are randomly torched by vandals and other assorted ne'er-do-wells. The night originally had gentler, more mischevious overtones when it began in the 1930s, but reached a dangerous zenith in the 1980s. By 1995, the mayor of Detroit launched "Angel's Night" to combat the fires, although acts of arson still occur.

And then there's Burning Man, the annual desert concert/DIY/pop-up village held at the tail end of August in Nevada in which giant artworks (and many of the attendees) get toasted.

Frank Gehry-designed children's center planned for Watts neighborhood in L.A.

2015-09-14T19:48:00-04:00

Frank Gehry, whose firm provided the work free of charge, spelled out his vision for a piece of property that extends nearly two blocks. The two-story structures will fit the neighborhood... offering a scale and a 'body language' that is residential in nature...[The] Children's Institute project is one of several signs that new services and amenities are coming to the neighborhood, which recently commemorated the 50th anniversary of the historic civil unrest that erupted in 1965.

More recent Frank Gehry-related news on Archinect:

Gehry's product designs to be honored by Museum of California Design

Frank Gehry opens up about the emotional side of his architecture

Frank Gehry's renderings for L.A.'s Sunset Strip revealed

Gehry to prioritize hydrology in LA River revitalization strategy

Looking to "Frank Gehry", after Paris but before Los Angeles

Editor's Picks #410

2015-04-06T10:10:00-04:00

For the latest edition of Working out of the Box Archinect talked with Abraham Burickson , founder of Odyssey Works.

He explained "Architecture school required total commitment, and in Odyssey Works that’s the case as well – absolute, total commitment. Because otherwise nothing new is possible, and it’s almost not worth it, that was the other thing I walked out of architecture with, that it’s not really worth it to go into any project without a total commitment."

Donna Sink commented "This was a great read, and I really appreciate the very close links to architecture and daily experience that somehow moves you out of a set mindframe and into a new one. Mr. Burickson is an excellent example of how it can be beneficial to get degrees in (or learn a lot about) other disciplines and apply a more general knowledge to our experience of living in a built world."

News

Reacting to the latest iteration of Peter Zumthor's design for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Evan Chakroff criticized "...

A Couple Travels the World in Search of "the Human City"

2015-03-31T18:15:00-04:00

...Fernando Casado and Paula García, the founders of the Towards the Human City project, [are] travelling the world to find how cities are trying to be more people-oriented...Trends like smart cities make us believe that large structures are needed to change urban spaces, yet there are countless examples of transformative bottom-up initiatives that have come from a simple idea and flourished without public money. It is this citizen-led type of urbanism that they hope to highlight and champion.

Community Bus Stops Transform Brazil

2014-09-05T13:55:00-04:00

Thousands of bus stops in Brazil completely lack signage to indicate which buses actually stop there. The nation-wide inconvenience has finally been tackled by one of the biggest community projects in the world. ‘Que Ônibus Passa Aqui?’ (‘Which Bus Stops here?’) is a resident-led initiative which has taken Brazil by storm.

Editor's Picks #376

2014-07-17T15:17:00-04:00

For the latest edition of The Deans List: Amelia Taylor-Hochberg interviewed Mark Wigley, former Dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Reflecting on the service-model of architecture he suggested "There will be the financial equivalent of Archinect in my opinion, and that will be a beautiful space for multi-dimensional practice. We must be within a few years of this…" He also shared that after "stepping up" as dean this past June he is taking a sabbatical, partly to finish a book on Buckminster Fuller and Architecture in the Age of Radio.

Olaf Design Ninja_ felt it was "Another good piece of journalism ATH......in short if I were to summarize Wigley's description of what an architecture school role is and what a university could be - its an open source experimental platform for creatives".

Plus, Nicholas Korody explored connections between Patrik Shumacher and post-internet discourses. toasteroven thought it was great stuff "however- ...

L.A.'s "People St." initiative puts public place-making into the public's hands

2014-02-13T14:27:00-05:00

Communities can transform underused areas of L.A.’s largest public asset—our 7,500 miles of city streets—into active, vibrant, and accessible public space with People St, a program of the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). Eligible Community Partners can apply for approval to create projects that enhance the quality of life in this city. Three innovative types of projects are available: Plazas, Parklets, and Bicycle Corrals.

Los Angeles began piloting its "People St." program in 2011, developing spaces designed to reclaim sections of streetspace for public recreation and use, rather than car traffic. The projects were few but popular, including the Sunset Triangle (designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios) plaza in Silverlake, a couple of parklets in Downtown, and bike corrals in Atwater Village and Highland Park. Led by LA's Department of Transportation and invigorated by LA's current mayor, Eric Garcetti, the program will accept applications for "People St." initiatives by any eligible community group, beginning this March.

The program is designed not only so communities can individualize their surroundings and make their city more livable, but for LADOT to expedite city improvement projects. Initiatives that otherwise would have taken years of planning and hundreds of thousands of dollars become faster and cheaper to execute, led by the people most in touch with the project site, and approved by city of...

Rooftop Farms to Deal with Growing Food Crisis

2013-05-01T10:34:00-04:00

Some of the most densely populated cities across the globe are tackling population growth and food shortages by establishing more rooftop farms. Vertical farms are popping up on unused rooftops in cities across the globe and the outcome is extremely positive.

UPSTATE at Syracuse University

2012-03-15T16:04:00-04:00

UPSTATE was created [as a] framework for sustained collaboration with the community and the city—in our case a post-industrial city in upstate New York that's been grappling with a shrinking population, eroding tax base, crumbling infrastructure, underfunded schools, cash-strapped services. The challenges aren't new—they're the challenges of cities all across the rust belt—but they're real, and they're intensifying.

Continuing a series on university design centers, Places editor Nancy Levinson interviews Julia Czerniak and Joe Sisko of UPSTATE at Syracuse University.

The slideshow features work by Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Cook+Fox, ARO and Della Valle Bernheimer, Onion Flats, the Near West Side Initiative, and others.

Visioning the suburban ecologies of northwest Arkansas.

2011-04-21T19:55:37-04:00

NL: In some cases, the local professional design community regards university-based design centers as potential competitions What is the UACDC's relationship with the local professionals? SL: Well, teaching and research hospitals don’t refrain from delivering medical services. We've enjoyed broad-based support from the professional design communities — but still, these types of skirmishes are symptomatic of a structural underdevelopment in the design profession.

Over at Places Design Observer, Nancy Levinson interviewed Stephen Luoni Director of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center. The two discuss UACDC's projects such as their Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas: Lifestyles and Ecologies, Low Impact Development: A Design Manual for Urban, Riparian Meadows, Mounds, and Rooms: Urban Greenway or their Walmart funded Finding the Social in Big Box Retail. The feature is the first of a series of profiles of university-based design centers that Places will publish, throughout this year.