Archinect - News

Soft Dome by Atelier YokYok installed in the National Museum of Singapore

2017-07-07T20:08:00-04:00

It seems to be common practice now for museums to bring in installations and works commissioned by architects during the summer months as a way of drawing in the crowds of people whom have a little bit of extra time on their hands and are looking for ways to escape the blazing heat. MoMA PS1's 2017 Young Architects Program kicked off a few weeks ago with a pavilion designed by Jenny Sabin, the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party installation, designed this year by Jeanne Gang, opened over the weekend, and the prestigious Serpentine Gallery, started showing of their summer pavilion designed by Diébédo Francis Kéré in late June.

In Singapore, the National Museum runs a similar summer series during June and July, but their's is catered towards children. Their Children's Season Singapore, is an annual festival now in it's 10th edition, that aims to make heritage content more accessible to younger generations and to encourage inter-generational bonding. In the Rotunda space, a...

Bjarke Ingels compares the shape of the just-opened Tirpitz Bunker Museum to a freshly sliced hot potato

2017-07-07T15:20:00-04:00

Due to the surrender of German forces in WWII, the Tirpitz Bunker's construction was never completed leaving the dugout as a dark presence on the sandy coast of Denmark. The 3.5 meter thick concrete fortification is the country's largest bunker and was intended to be part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall defenses. Due to its strategic position near the coast, the bunker would've helped protect the sea route to the Port of Esbjerg, a major intermodal hub for the Nordic region. While the Allies blew up many of the bunkers in the region, the Tirpitz was saved. The site has been used as a small museum since 1991 and has previously held concerts and art shows within the moss-covered bunker walls. In 2012 as part of a 7,500-square foot development, it was decided to expand the museum.

Today, hidden under the dunes, the new Tirpitz Museum, designed by Bjarke Ingels, has finally been transformed with four distinct galleries alongside the original bunker. The museum will explore both the lighter an...

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Houses" Pinterest Board

2017-07-07T14:25:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Houses.

↑ CASA IV in Matola, Spain by MESURA

↑ Lib House in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by atelier tho.A

↑ Lateral House in London, UK by Pitman Tozer Architects; Photo: Nick Kane

↑ Cavendish in Cambridge, UK by Mole Architects

↑ Covert House in London, UK by DSDHA; Photo: Hélène Binet, Christoffer Rudquist

↑ Double Duplex in Toronto, Canada by Batay-Csorba Architects

↑ Condesa House in Mexico City by Dellekamp Arquitectos; Photo: Sandra Pereznieto, Derek Dellekamp

↑ House P+G in Weinheim, Germany by Wannenmacher-Möller Architekten GmbH; Photo: Jose Campos

↑ Entre Bloques House in Babahoyo, Ecuador by Natura Futura Arquitectura; Phot...

Facebook and OMA New York to collaborate on mixed-use masterplan in Menlo Park

2017-07-07T13:09:00-04:00

Facebook announced today that it has partnered with OMA to design the masterplan for Willow Campus, a mixed-use neighborhood adjacent to their existing headquarters in Menlo Park.

"The first official step will be the filing of our plan with Menlo Park in July 2017. We will begin more formal conversations with local government officials and community organizations over the course of the review process, which we expect to last approximately two years."—writes John Tenales, VP Global Facilities and Real Estate. "We envision construction will follow in phases, with the first to include the grocery, retail, housing and office completed in early 2021, and subsequent phases will take two years each to complete."

Facebook also plans on building 1,500 units of housing on the campus, 15% of which will be offered at below market rates to mitigate traffic impacts from growth. "These efforts complement our ongoing work to address the issue, including the Catalyst Housing Fund for affordable ho...

This proposed luxury hotel by Fender Katsalidis Architects incorporates a suspension bridge

2017-07-06T20:44:00-04:00

It will be built from the top down on a suspension bridge, modelled after and painted the colour of the Golden Gate bridge. At its base will be a new 1,075-seat theatre, and below that an excavation site that’s 4.5 times as large as the museum’s excavation. It is expected to cost over $300m.

In a noteworthy meeting of infrastructure and luxury real estate development, Tasmanian organizer of Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) David Walsh believes the people who enjoy the museum will definitely dig an onsite luxury hotel that uses a suspension bridge to support its seven upper storeys. The design has been proposed by Australia's Fender Katsalidis Architects.

A proposed three-story library. Image: Mona

In this article he notes that "you can’t usually build a theatre inside a building because when it shakes, the whole building shakes. But because this is a bridge, the top seven floors are suspended from above, and the bottom three floors are built from below. They’re not connected to each other – there’s no [noise] transmission. It’s the best idea anyone ever had. And it wasn’t mine!”

A proposed installation. Image: Mona

See Jeanne Gang's 'Hive' get built in this time-lapse of the National Building Museum's newest installation

2017-07-06T20:42:00-04:00

Every summer, the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. puts on an imaginative Summer Block Party series of temporary structures. Past installations that have graced its historic Great Hall have included James Corner's "ICEBERGS," Snarkitecture's "BEACH," and BIG's "Maze."

This year, the museum tapped Studio Gang to temporarily transform the space. The resulting installation, named "Hive," has opened to the public and will be available to visit through September 4th. The structure, resembling some sort of cross between a beehive and pipe organ, is that tallest structure the Museum has displayed thus far. Built entirely of more than 2,700 wound paper tubes and topping out at 60 feet, it is shocking that it took a mere two weeks to construct.

L.A.'s Skid Row Housing Trust C.E.O. Mike Alvidrez will step down in 2018

2017-07-06T17:29:00-04:00

After nearly three decades of involvement with the L.A. Skid Row Housing Trust (and working relationships with architects including Michael Maltzan and Brooks + Scarpa), C.E.O. Mike Alvidrez has announced his plans to step down next year.

Brooks + Scarpa's homeless housing "The Six" developed in conjunction with the Skid Row Housing Trust. Image: Brooks + Scarpa

He will remain in an "ambassador" role to help the new leadership, although applicants for that position will not be formally reviewed until later this year. In a statement to The Architect's Newspaper, Alvidrez noted that "the public perception of supportive housing has forever changed thanks to our partnerships with renowned architects to design beautiful residential and community spaces that foster reconnection, healing, and dignity.”

Brooks + Scarpa's homeless housing "The Six" developed in conjunction with the Skid Row Housing Trust. Image: Brooks + Scarpa

The mystery of how Roman concrete has withstood the sea for millennia is finally solved

2017-07-06T13:09:00-04:00

Modern, steel-embedded concrete seawalls tend to need repair after a few decades of erosion from the endless procession of waves, but the Roman pier at Portus Cosanus in Orbetello, Italy has remained solid for almost two thousand years. Scientists have finally figured out the missing ingredient of this material's longevity, and it turns out to be mineral growth after the concrete has set.

Ancient Roman Seawall at Portus Cosanus in Orbetello. Image: Wikimapia

This concept of concrete that grows after it has been set is something that others have been experimenting with recently, but The Telegraph breaks this new discovery down thusly:

Roman engineers made concrete by mixing volcanic ash with lime and seawater to make a mortar, and then added chunks of volcanic rock. The combination of ash, water, and lime produces what is called a pozzolanic reaction, named after the city of Pozzuoli in the Bay of Naples, triggering the formation of crystals in the gaps of the mixture as it sets.

Th...

Architects + artists conceive of the world differently than other people, study reveals

2017-07-06T12:39:00-04:00

In a study conducted by UCL and Bangor University researchers in which people were shown a Google Street View, a painting of St. Peter's Basilica and a surreal computer generated image, architects, sculptors and painters consistently conceptualized of the space differently than those with no background in these professions. As this article in Science Daily explains:

The painters tended to shift between describing the scene as a 3D space or as a 2D image. Architects were more likely to describe barriers and boundaries of the space, and used more dynamic terms, while sculptors' responses were between the two. Painters and architects also differed in how they described the furthest point of the space, as painters called it the 'back' and architects called it the 'end.' The control participants gave less elaborate responses, which the authors say went beyond just a lack of expert terminology.

Fast Co Design wonders, "Why Is There So Much Modern Architecture In The NRA’s New Ad?"

2017-07-05T15:13:00-04:00

For decades, authoritarian regimes have waged war on modern architecture and the philosophy it embodies. A new ad proves it’s still a target.

In an alarmingly threatening and dangerous ad, NRA attacks intellectualism (in its core sense) via modern architecture. This savage ad might not only target your profession and/or your education but also puts the average citizen in front of the barrel of a gun.

The S House prefab system hopes to bring super-low-cost housing to Vietnam — and the rest of the world

2017-07-05T14:55:00-04:00

Known as “S Houses,” these prefab structures going up here in Ba Vi, about 30 miles from Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, are iterations of a prototype that Mr. Nghia has been honing since about 2013. [...] But Mr. Nghia says that his plan is to mass-manufacture this portable, easy-to-assemble design for people in slums, remote areas or refugee camps around the world, beginning later this year, all for the starting price — $1,500 — of about two iPhones.

The NYT takes a closer look at the extremely affordable S House prefab system currently going up by the dozens in Vietnam, with a keen eye on the global super-low-cost market. Designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, a design studio with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, S House was exhibited with a full-scale prototype at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial.

S HOUSE at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Photo: Steve Hall, Tom Harris, copyright: Hedrich Blessing, image via the architects' website.

If the firm name sounds strangely familiar, Vo Trong Nghia Architects won the 2014 World Architecture Festival 'House' category with the spectacular House for Trees project. VTN partner Masaaki Iwamoto is also a 2014 Wheelwright Prize finalist.

Cuba to bring back hourly rental "love hotels"

2017-07-05T14:05:00-04:00

The authorities in the Cuban capital, Havana, say they are restoring a network of hotels where rooms are rented by the hour to lovers. State-run "posadas", or love motels, disappeared during Cuba's economic crisis in the 1990s, when they became hurricane shelters. Private householders filled the gap in the market, but at exorbitant prices. Officials say the posadas will be cheaper and will help end the practice of love-making in Havana's open spaces.

Architects, have you recently finished a remodel? Send it to us!

2017-07-05T13:25:00-04:00

Architects love the freedom presented by a blank sheet of paper (or CAD window), but the reality of practice inevitably puts limits on the imagination. This is doubly true when it comes to remodels, which require working around somebody else’s design. But constraints can also encourage creativity as new ideas are shaped by pre-existing parameters. Sometimes, the most difficult challenges—a wall that can’t be moved or a budget that won’t budge—breed the most inventive solutions.

We want to take a look at what goes into designing around an existing structure. Specifically, we’re interested in residential projects with unusual backstories and imaginative design choices. Did you modernize a traditional home? Strip things bare or keep them intact? How did you relate to the original design? How did you relate to the clients’ demands?

Have a project that fits the bill? Post the project to your individual or firm profile, then submit it for consideration by filling out this form. We will be...

New renderings released of the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

2017-07-03T12:10:00-04:00

It’s full speed ahead for the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the $1B museum sited in Exposition Park in Los Angeles and designed by Ma Yansong. Rising four stories, the 115-ft. tall building will house some 300,00 square feet of floor area containing exhibition space, a library, two theaters, classrooms, offices and a library. New renderings have been released. Take a gander below.

Image credit the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, via NBC

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Bedroom Spaces" Pinterest Board

2017-06-30T14:56:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Bedroom Spaces.

↑ 4th Street Residence in New York, NY by Bird Works in collaboration with Peter Himmelstein Architect

↑ Winkley Workshop in London, UK by Kirkwood McCarthy

↑ Dune House in Leiston, UK by Mole Architects; Photo: Chris Wright, Ivar Kwaal, Nils Petter Dale

↑ Small House in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by atelier tho.A

↑ Modern Mews in London, UK by Coffey Architects

↑ LM Guest House in Dutchess County, NY by Desai Chia Architecture; Photo: Paul Warchol

↑ Sonoma weeHouse in Santa Rosa, CA by Alchemy

↑ The House of Prajna in Kwachon, South Korea by studio_GAON; Photo: Yong Kwan Kim

↑ Autocamp Russian River in Russian River...

Kengo Kuma designs an "eco-luxury hotel" for Paris-Rive Gauche

2017-06-30T12:50:00-04:00

Kengo Kuma & Associates have been commissioned to design an "eco-luxury hotel" building perched above the railways of the Paris-Rive Gauche district. Part of a larger development, the building is meant to serve as a landmark for the neighborhood.

Credit: Luxigon / Mir

“In the context of repetitive volumes along the avenue, our design strategy was to create a sculptural shape as formed by natural erosion that will let the sky come down to the street. The work on the volume is defined by the modularity of the wooden structure,” write the architects. “As particles, dispersed facade panels together with the volumetric decomposition come to blur the shape of the building. The warm materiality of the wood is combined with the soften reflection and aerial touch of the metal panels. The building will come alive with the light.”

Credit: Luxigon / Mir

In total, the building has a floor area of 12,700 square meters. It will include a sport facility, business center, youth ...

Christopher Hawthorne on when architecture and performance intersect

2017-06-30T12:06:00-04:00

This interest in performance among architects is less a style or a fledgling movement than a register, a way of working. It’s a means of sketching out a new set of priorities — and giving up older ones that are tarnished or compromised. It’s also open-ended, challenging the idea that a building can ever really qualify as finished. It makes room for perspectives that come from other fields.

According to Hawthorne, this new trend—seen in the work of architects from Andrés Jaque to Bryony Roberts—evidences the appeal of "impermanence and often...informality," putting the work in contrast to the ritzy architecture that seems to dominant these days.

Reiulf Ramstad's proposal for a multivalent, inspirational Ross Pavilion in Edinburgh

2017-06-29T14:55:00-04:00

While no one can claim that they understand where inspiration comes from, most would agree that it doesn't hurt to have an unfettered view of nature in an architecturally inventive setting. Norwegian architects Reiulf Ramstad are among the seven finalists in the Ross Pavilion International Design Competition to design a new cultural pavilion for Edinburgh's West Princes Street Gardens, and their plans reveal a glass-walled, timber-framed structure that attempts to harmoniously look toward the future while not alienating the centuries-old architecture surrounding it.

Image: Forbes Massie Studio

The result is a surprisingly timeless pavilion that encourages contemplation, relaxation, and an appreciation of the Gardens.

Image: Forbes Massie Studio

As the architects explain, "The Ross Pavilion will be the focal point of the city of Edinburgh and its many visitors, but it can also be a symbolic place for all of Scotland as well. The intervention into the Gardens ...

Transform your phone into an augmented-reality ruler with the soon-to-be-released app AR Measure

2017-06-29T13:46:00-04:00

If you've ever wanted to measure the dimensions of a window that you can't reach physically, it's largely been a trick of algebra. However, the new AR Measure App, as developed by Laan Labs, promises to make it easy to accurately measure physical objects by simply pointing an iOS device at it. In the demo video, the app is able to instantly render the dimensions of a physical object using the existing sensors of an iPhone or iPad.

"Boat." Image: AR Measure

In a press release, Laan Labs notes that “A lot of the credit here goes to the brilliant engineers at Apple. Our app is built on top of the ARKit Framework that was announced at WWDC 2017. That framework allows us to identify points in space using the iPhones sensors and camera input and then measure the distance between those points.”

"Stool." Image: AR Measure

The demos only show the measurement of height or width of relatively flat objects, as opposed to the surface of a curvy or circular item. In practical terms, this makes th...

Archinect's Employer of the Day: Weekly Round-Up #141

2017-06-29T13:44:00-04:00

Looking for a job? Archinect's Employer of the Day Weekly Round-Up can help start off your hunt amid the hundreds of active listings on our job board. If you've been following the feature on our Facebook, Employer of the Day is where we highlight active employers and showcase a gallery of their work.

In case you missed them, here are some of the latest EOTD-featured firms.

1. PLP Architecture (Facebook feature)
Currently hiring: Business Development and Bid Coordination

Photo © Hufton+Crow, Courtesy of PLP architecture

2. Zimmerman Workshop Architecture + Design (Facebook feature)
Currently hiring: Project Architect

Photo: Janet Kimber.

3. Studio William Hefner (Facebook feature)
Currently hiring: Multiple listings

Photo credit: Studio William Hefner.

4. OPUS.AD (Facebook feature)
Currently hiring: Senior Architect, Residential

Photo: Marius Chira.

5. Thinc Design (Facebook feature)
Currently hiring: Multiple listings

Photo: Tom Hennes.

Keep track of Employer of the Day by following Archinect...

MIT team wins NASA challenge to design luxury hotel in low Earth orbit

2017-06-29T13:07:00-04:00

The MIT project — the Managed, Reconfigurable, In-space Nodal Assembly (MARINA) — was designed as a commercially owned and operated space station, featuring a luxury hotel as the primary anchor tenant and NASA as a temporary co-anchor tenant for 10 years. NASA’s estimated recurring costs, $360 million per year, represent an order of magnitude reduction from the current costs of maintaining and operating the International Space Station.

Left to right: Caitlin Mueller (faculty advisor), Matthew Moraguez, George Lordos, and Valentina Sumini are some of the members of the interdisciplinary MIT team that won first place in the graduate division of the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage Design Competition Forum.

Part luxury hotel, part future Mars explorer, MIT's MARINA has a modular design that works not only to provide a bar, restaurant, gym,and eight rooms for low orbit guests, but can be reconfigured to create an "interplanetary Mars transit vehicle that can enter Mars’ orbit, refuel from locally produced methane fuel, and return to Earth." At last: a luxury hotel at which it would be appropriate to charge sky-high prices.

The Getty completes major renovation project of Kahn's Salk Institute

2017-06-29T12:22:00-04:00

It’s heralded as one of the major masterpieces of American modernism, but its ocean-adjacent location has made conservation difficult. Today, the Getty Conservation Institute announced that a major renovation project of Louis Kahn ’s Salk Institute in La Jolla has been completed.

The project centered primarily around restoring the complex’s teak window walls. Set within the monolithic concrete walls of the study towers and offices, they had weathered to a non-uniform appearance and were deteriorating. While prefabricated, the windows have a “hand-crafted quality” due to the detailing. Over the years, they suffered surface erosion and had accumulated a fungal biofilm.

Salk Institute for Biological Studies, photos by Elizabeth Daniels

“Restoration of the teak wood presented a number of challenges,” says Kyle Normandin, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. project manager and associate principal. “The success of the project is that we were able to save so much of the original materia...

Winning design for NYC’s first official LGBTQ monument is revealed

2017-06-28T17:55:00-04:00

After the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 people dead, Governor Cuomo formed the LGBT Memorial Commission to honor the fight for equal rights and remember victims of hate, intolerance and violence. A request for designs for the new memorial went out in October. It is to be built in Hudson River Park near the waterfront piers that have played a key role in the city’s history as both a meeting place and a haven for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

Designed by a Brooklyn-based mixed-media artist, Anthony Goicolea, the LGBTQ monument consists of nine boulders, some bisected with glass that acts as a prism and can emit a subtle rainbow. Meant to be communicative, usable and complimentary to the landscape, the design was inspired by sites like Stonehenge and Easter Island as well as burial mounds and African stone circles.

“It feels like there are certain shapes and patterns that are encoded in our DNA as humans that transcend any particular culture and speak to how we are unified in the larger scheme,” said the artist. “I wanted to create a space that feels familiar, even though it is new.”

A former silo in Copenhagen transformed into a stunning residential complex

2017-06-28T12:49:00-04:00

Located in Copenhagen’s redeveloped North Harbor (Nordhavn), “The Silo” is, as its name suggests, a former grain silo. Fifty years after its original construction, the structure has been revamped by COBE. Now, the 17-storey silo is a residential apartment building, replete with 38 unique units, which range in size from 106 square meters to 401. The upper and lower levels both have spaces for ‘public’ functions, such as dining and events.

Credit: Rasmus Hjortshõj

The first Disneyland map sold for $700K

2017-06-28T12:08:00-04:00

An original map of the first Disneyland park has fetched £555,838 ($708,000) at an auction in California. The 1953 drawing was used by Walt Disney to secure funding, after his own studio refused to fund the site. The artist's impression was given to an employee, and remained out of public view for more than 60 years.

Of Home and Hearth: A Brief History of the Fireplace

2017-06-28T12:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Ortal.

Modern fireplaces are first and foremost decorative elements—gorgeous architectural details, beautiful centerpieces, conversation openers, symbols of home and hearth. “For a lot of people they are almost like shrines or alters, in that the fireplace will be very special-made of beautiful materials, very carefully detailed,” says architect Marcus Greysteen.

That wasn’t always so.

Photo courtesy of Nati Ziv

From Useful Appliance to Beautiful Symbol

Once upon a time, the fireplace was a mere appliance, a functional piece of equipment used for cooking meals, heating homes, and even drying clothes during long, frigid winters. To do their job, fireplaces of yesteryear featured large, cavernous recesses surrounded by the barest hint of a mantel.1

Over the years, hearths became smaller. Fireboxes became taller yet narrower. The fireplace itself moved from the middle of the room, where it had remained for centuries, to the outside wall, where it typical...

The Norton Museum of Art celebrates construction milestone of its expansion designed by Foster + Partners

2017-06-28T10:14:00-04:00

Today, on June 27, 2017, leaders from the Norton Museum of Art and Gilbane Building Company along with museum's staff and more than 100 construction workers attended a topping off ceremony for the museum’s $100 million expansion project designed by Foster + Partners.

“We are thrilled to achieve this major construction milestone and are grateful to everyone who is helping us realize The New Norton. The expansion will allow the Museum to better serve the more than 100,000 annual visitors who attend exhibitions and programming, including the 12,000 schoolchildren the Norton educates each year,”—said executive Director Hope Alswang.“The New Norton is a transformative project for the Palm Beach County community and beyond. The new building has not only contributed jobs to our local community, it will also give our county a landmark building by an architect of international renown and dramatically expand visitation.”

Located at 1451 S Olive ave in West Palms Beach, FL, The Norton is free...

Legendary Texas architect Frank Welch has passed away aged 90

2017-06-27T19:54:00-04:00

With a sleek modern sensibility and an awareness of the power of open, cleanly articulated vistas, Frank Welch designed sophisticated homes for a sophisticated clientele. Known affectionately as "The Dean," Welch's 90 years on earth spanned the creation of numerous spacious, elegant structures in a state primed for the appreciation of wide open spaces.

The Walter Davis House. Image: TCU Press

Some of his most famous works include "The Birthday," and The Walter Davis House. Recently, a house he designed known as the Texas Modern on North Janmar went on the market for $3.75 million. The 6,600 square foot home features his trademark "stick ceilings" and resplendent natural vistas.

Texas Modern on North Janmar Drive. Ima ge: Virginia Cole Realtors

Texas Modern on North Janmar Drive. Image: Virginia Cole Realtors

As PaperCity Magazine noted, "Welch was recognized with more than 50 awards for design excellence, and in 2006, the Texas Society of Architects presented him with its highest hono...

The George Lucas Museum has (finally) been given the green-light

2017-06-27T19:13:00-04:00

If the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is any indicator, the Bilbao effect is fast receding into distant memory. For a while, no city seemed to want it. The $1B project flirted with Chicago and San Francisco before finally finding a home in Los Angeles, which, in retrospect, seems perfectly fitting for a museum dedicated to “narrative art.” Now, at long last, the Los Angeles City Council has given final approval of the project and construction will proceed.

George Lucas and his wife Melody Hobson spoke in-person to the council, which gave unanimous support to the project. Groundbreaking is set for early next year, with a 36-month construction timeline and an opening in 2021. Alongside it’s (incredibly) steep price tag, the museum comes with a $400M endowment.

The museum is designed by Ma Yansong and will take up seven acres in Exposition Park.

Home Depot sued for $5 million over "misleading" labeling of 4 x 4s

2017-06-27T19:06:00-04:00

The alleged deception: The retailers market and sell the hefty lumber as 4x4s without specifying that the boards actually measure 3½ inches by 3½ inches...The retailers say the allegations are bogus. It is common knowledge and longstanding industry practice, they say, that names such as 2x4 or 4x4 do not describe the width and thickness of those pieces of lumber.

Taking literal interpretations to a new, class-action-lawsuit extreme, a group of men are suing Home Depot and Menard's for failing to specifically label their 4 X 4s as being 3.5" X 3.5" (one can only imagine the litigious hurt and fury when these men discover that Aunt Jemima's Syrup is not made by Aunt Jemima). Even the lawyers representing the men admit that 4 X 4 is a trade name that does not literally represent the dimensions of the 4 X 4s, but make this argument instead:

“It’s difficult to say that for a reasonable consumer, when they walk into a store and they see a label that says 4x4, that that’s simply — quote unquote — a trade name,” Turin said in an interview.

Turin said his clients don’t argue that the retailers’ 4x4s (and, in the Menards case, a 1x6 board as well) are not the correct size under the standards published by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The product labels, however, should disclose that those are “nominal” designations and not actual sizes, Turin said...