Archinect - News

Powerhouse Company's "Paper Roof" reception center has been completed in Tianjin, China

2021-01-15T12:26:00-05:00

Powerhouse Company's "Paper Roof," the new design for a reception center in Tianjin, China has been completed. The form is a transparent glass block topped by a light sweeping roof inspired by traditional Chinese architecture.

Photo by Weiqi Jin

The roof raises 18.5 meters at its highest point with a surface measurement of 30 meters x 50 meters. The canopy is made from powder-coated steel, colored a tone intended to mimic the sky.

Photo by Weiqi Jin

Inside the pavilion, a large atrium offers panoramic views of the surrounding lake and gardens. The second floor includes offices and a viewing balcony in addition to seating areas for small and large gatherings.

Photo by Weiqi Jin

First photos of Zaha Hadid Architects' newly opened Leeza SOHO tower (and the world's tallest atrium)

2019-11-19T21:07:00-05:00

Beijing's latest, hotly anticipated skyscraper opened to the public today: the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Leeza SOHO tower already made a big splash in architectural media long before it was even finished with its 623-foot-tall, full-height atrium (the world's tallest) and spectacular, Piranesiesque construction photos of the, then still rising, structural skeleton.

The 45-story tower development marks the anchor for the new Beijing Fengtai business district, a growing financial and transport hub outside of the city center and closer to the recently opened, and also ZHA-designed, Beijing Daxing International Airport to the south.

That Atrium!

"Leeza SOHO’s site is diagonally dissected by an underground subway service tunnel," explains project description from ZHA. "Straddling this tunnel, the tower’s design divides its volume into two halves enclosed by a single facade shell. The emerging space between these two halves extends the full height of the tower, creatin...

ZHA-designed tower containing the world’s tallest atrium is nearly complete

2019-10-04T14:45:00-04:00

A new tower designed by Zaha Hadid Architects containing the world’s tallest atrium is nearly complete.

The so-called Leeza SOHO tower straddles a new subway line in Beijing and was designed for developer SOHO China. The subway line running below the site bisects building, creating the footprint for the 623-foot-tall, full-height atrium.

As a result of this complex site arrangement, the curvaceous, black steel and glass tower appears to be two buildings in one. The tower’s twisting atrium reorients the nature of the space to better align it with the historic north-south axis that guides the development of Beijing’s urban plan.

Rendering of the proposed Leeza SOHO Tower. Image courtesy of MIR.

The tower is designed with certain elements of sustainability in mind and recently had its core-and-shell components certified to LEED Gold standards. The atrium’s double-insulated, unitized glass curtain wall, for example, cants inwardly from the extents of the building, creating a narrow cav...

Mohsen Mostafavi on John Portman

2018-03-05T14:41:00-05:00

He was very focused on the consequences of ideas. In his own work he was trying to create a sense of totality. He’s doing the hotel, the sculpture, and the furniture. He’s choreographing—it’s like a stage set and he’s staging the whole experience.

CityLab chats with GSD Dean Mohsen Mostafavi about John Portman's relationship with the school, the professorship he created at Harvard, and their book collaboration, Portman’s America & Other Speculations.

John Portman, architect, developer and master of the mega-atria, dies at 93

2017-12-31T18:44:00-05:00

Architect John Portman, often credited as the father of the massive hotel atrium, has passed away in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. No cause of death has been announced.

His firm, John Portman & Associates, has released the following statement, along with a website celebrating his legacy:

Atlanta lost one of her greatest champions with the passing of John C. Portman, Jr. on Friday, December 29, 2017 at the age of 93. The leadership and vision of Mr. Portman were instrumental in moving Atlanta from a gracious Southern city into a vibrant world capital. As an architect, entrepreneur, artist and altruist, John Portman had a dramatic impact on Atlanta's success and growth as a major international city, and he was instrumental in having similar impact on other cities throughout the world.

A little over a year ago David Cole penned this love letter, in the form of an Archinect forum thread, "You never forget your first love: An ode to John Portman"

My youth was pretty sheltered, archi...