Archinect - News

The dispute over the Chrysler Building’s future just got even murkier

2024-10-23T17:33:00-04:00

Several local New York outlets have reported an update on the financial dispute between the Chrysler Building’s owner-operator RFR and The Cooper Union, which has held the land use rights to its lot since 1902.

The Austrian-based developer purchased William Van Alen’s landmarked design for $150 million in 2019 and is now being threatened with eviction by the college after reportedly not paying rent since May. RFR in turn filed a lawsuit last month, claiming "an improper and fatally defective eviction proceeding" on the part of Cooper Union.

The ground rent is now expected to increase to $41 million by 2028, adding to the challenges posed by its inability to retain tenants because of poor cell phone reception and unsanitary taps. The suit also claims Cooper Union's reaction to student-led anti-war protests this past year has led others to withdraw. The college has since called these claims "irrelevant, scandalous, and prejudicial.”

Architect sues client for using work without payment or permission after being dismissed from project

2022-04-05T09:00:00-04:00

A Pennsylvania-based architecture firm has filed a civil lawsuit in the state’s Middle District Court against a former developer client for breach-of-contract and copyright infringement. Murray Associates Architects filed the suit against Pine Ridge Construction Management on March 28th, claiming that Pine Ridge has continued to use Murray’s design, drawings, and renderings for a proposed project after Murray was terminated from the project without payment and without a licensing agreement for Pine Ridge to continue using Murray’s work.

Events began in Spring 2020, when Murray was selected by Pine Ridge to serve as architects for the company’s bid to design and deliver the mixed-use Basin Street Development Project for Lycoming College at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which would be housing retail, office, and residential uses. Murray delivered conceptual studies, graphics, and Revit/BIM drawings for Pine Ridge’s bid for the project, which was submitted to Lycoming College in June 202...

Hani Rashid is out as the Hermitage Museum's Moscow expansion architect as the development changes gears abruptly

2021-11-30T16:58:00-05:00

A row is developing in Russia after renowned designer Hani Rashid was rather abrasively let go from a contemporary expansion of the State Hermitage Museum in Moscow.

The Art Newspaper is reporting that the 63-year-old architect was “unceremoniously” dropped from the museum’s satellite project after not hearing from the city or developers LSR Group in over a year.

“We received all of the necessary approvals for this project, but we stopped hearing news from Moscow about a year ago, just when we were ready to pour the concrete,” Rashid told TAN’s Sophia Kishkovsky.

This marks the second time in four years that the architect has been removed from a cultural project in the Russian Federation. Rashid was previously involved in a Putin-backed scheme for a cultural center in Vladivostok that ultimately led to his resignation owing to an issue surrounding the financial house that was backing the development, which the U.S. government had sanctioned.

A rendering of Rashid's now-scrapped d...

Condé Nast settles back rent dispute with One World Trade Center developers following a yearlong standoff

2021-08-10T18:43:00-04:00

A protracted standoff between the landlords at One World Trade Center and the parent company of Condé Nast appears to have finally reached a conclusion … for now. Advance Publications executives Steven and Donald Newhouse have agreed to pay almost $10 million in back rent owed to co-developers the Durst Organization and the Port Authority, the New York Post reported.

Condé Nast had apparently been looking to break its lease with the Durst Organization that was set to run through 2039. The 112-year-old media company was originally a headline tenant of the building, which has had trouble filling its more than 3.5 million square feet of office space since opening in 2014.

Vacancy rates in Manhattan's Financial District have risen to 20% as a result of the pandemic. The New York Post has more on the settlement here.

Zaha Hadid Architects severs ties with Architects Declare, following Foster + Partners

2020-12-03T11:29:00-05:00

In just two days, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) becomes the second Architects Declare co-founder to leave the advocacy group, following Foster + Partners' withdrawal yesterday.

In a statement released by Architects' Journal, ZHA said that "climate change is a defining challenge of our generation," and that the practice is committed to developing solutions. However, ZHA says it is time to recognize its "significant difference of opinion with the Architects Declare steering group on how positive change can be delivered."

Below is the full statement from Zaha Hadid Architects, published earlier today by Architects' Journal:

Climate change is a defining challenge of our generation and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is committed to developing solutions.

We embed sustainability into the design, procurement, construction and operations of the projects we are delivering, and we work hard to build integrated client/contractor/design team relationships that can maximise opportunities to improve s...

Authorship dispute erupts over Europe's tallest skyscraper in St. Petersburg

2018-08-08T15:57:00-04:00

A row has broken out between former RMJM international group design director Tony Kettle and a Russian architect over who designed Europe’s new tallest building – an 87-storey skyscraper near St Petersburg. Staff at Moscow-based firm Gorproject have accused Scottish practice The Kettle Collective of trying to claim ‘authorship’ over energy giant Gazprom’s mammoth tower, currently nearing completion on the Gulf of Finland.

As Europe's tallest skyscraper nears completion, a dispute has erupted over the authorship of the completed project. The Moscow-based firm Gorproject claims design authorship over the Lakhta Center, while Tony Kettle claims the delivered design is his concept while working at RMJM. Letters on the issue were sent to the RIBA, the RIAS, and the Union of Architects of Russia. A statement from the client, Gazprom, asserts the design was RMJM’s original 2011 concept with Tony Kettle as design director.

Herzog & de Meuron received reduced fee for Tate Modern extension

2017-08-15T14:37:00-04:00

Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architecture firm behind the ambitious Tate Modern extension, took a reduced fee for work on the building project after costs went £45m over budget. According to documents obtained by the Architect’s Journal under the Freedom of Information act, Herzog & de Meuron was asked not to take its full fee for extra work on the 10-storey building, which went from costing £215m in 2012 to £260m in 2015.

The Art Newspaper cites the minutes from a 2015 Tate board of trustees meeting: "Conversation at a senior level indicates that [Herzog & de Meuron] will look sympathetically on this position, but that costs have already been incurred to a certain level, which will require some recompense, allowed for in the figures budgeted."

As published minutes reveal, some of the construction firms were also being named for unsatisfactory performance, notably window & facade contractors Seele and Loveld.

"War of the Shrubbery:" when HOA disputes turn ugly

2016-07-29T14:05:00-04:00

It’s the all-too-common hazard that buyers of multimillion-dollar homes often overlook: Disagreements between homeowners can turn even the nicest neighborhoods into war zones. These disputes can happen anywhere, but in wealthy communities, the tendency to lawyer up quickly can ignite small sparks into all-consuming conflagrations. Collateral damage to neighbors can include legal costs, a soured neighborhood feeling and more difficulty in selling homes.