Archinect - News

'An astonishing place to explore': Oliver Wainwright previews the trippy Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood

2023-01-25T13:00:00-05:00

Welcome to Super Nintendo World, the closest thing you can get to diving head-first inside a video game and experiencing the likely effects of swallowing one of Mario’s magic mushrooms. For Universal, it represents the first expansion beyond film- and TV-themed rides, and a step up in designing a total environment – with the opening timed to capitalise on the release of an animated Super Mario Bros movie this spring.

The park expansion officially opens on February 17th. Visitors will find attractions like the overpriced Toadstool Cafe, a “sedate crawl” signature race experience (sans shortcuts), cuter small details, and Bowser’s Castle, which apparently includes a self-help library and bomb-making workshop.

Previously on Archinect: Super Nintendo World Hollywood sets an opening date for 2023

Wainwright compared the latter to Kim Jong-Il’s palatial abode, a space he documented somewhat controversially for a 2018 investigation published by Taschen. A Universal Studios executive described its design as being geared to encourage profligate repetition, not unlike a casino's. The Hollywood location follows another that opened in Osaka in 2021 and will be joined by two others in Orlando and Singapore, due to open by the end of 2025.

"What's in a name?" Let's have the public decide what Thomas Heatherwick's NYC installation should be called

2019-01-25T19:38:00-05:00

Thomas Heatherwick’s 150-foot-tall, honeycomb-shaped climbable public art installation at Hudson Yards is set to open for public climbing in March along with the complex’s Shops and Restaurants on March 15. Known for some time as “The Vessel,” the bronzed steel and concrete structure has no official title as of yet.

Thomas Heatherwick's highly anticipated bronzed steel and concrete structure will have its public debut on March 15th. Having been in the headlines for the past few months the project's most recent update lies in what the structure will be officially named. According to a source from 6sqft, the Vessel "was always a placeholder until the public experienced it. We're excited to have the public help us with a name."

Image © Related-Oxford

According to The Hudson Yard's website, the structure has been named "New York's Staircase," a fitting name due to the 154 interconnecting flights of stairs - almost 2,500 individual steps—and 80 landings. Many have expressed their opinions on the project as a whole. Those who are in favor of the public, interactive landmark are excited about its completion while others have shown their contempt for the project overall.

View this post on Instagram Turning heads on the @HighlineNYC, looking back at #HeatherwickStudio’s centerpiece at ...

Thomas Heatherwick's Vessel launches early ticket signup for spring opening

2018-10-22T15:42:00-04:00

If you've been itching to climb that new Thomas Heatherwick-designed 'Vessel' staircase sculpture at the Hudson Yards development in New York City, you'll have to exercise patience first until the $150 million attraction officially opens to the public in spring 2019.

To manage the anticipated crowds, the intricate 150-foot-tall steel structure will require visitors to get tickets for dedicated time slots which will become available in February. An early ticket signup form for ubereager climbers ("in good health and free from any physical limitations") has been launched on Hudson Yard's website.

View this post on Instagram Comprised of almost 2,500 steps and standing 150 feet tall, Thomas Heatherwick’s interactive design piece is opening to the public in Spring of 2019. Head to our story to sign up for tickets when the schedule is released in February. #HelloHudsonYards
A post shared by Hudson Yards New York (@_hudsonyardsnyc) on Oct 18, 2018 at 9:32am PDT

The Ves...

Now THAT's a skywalk! Jin Mao Tower to open world's highest fenceless, all transparent walkway in Shanghai

2016-07-27T15:04:00-04:00

Looking for something new to do in Shanghai? Well, if you're someone who enjoys dangling off a terrifyingly high ledge with nothing but a safety rope to stop you from plunging to your death, then have we got an activity for you! Tomorrow, a skywalk will open outside of the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Tower in Lujiazui. [...] it will be the highest fenceless, all transparent walkway outside a high-rise building in the world and is sure to scare you senseless, 340 meters above the ground.

For more terrifying photos, head over to Shanghaiist (if you can handle it).

Want to work in a giant basket? Ohio's soon-vacated landmark faces uncertain future

2016-03-11T14:06:00-05:00

[JRJR Networks] is eager to shed itself of the big basket, but that may not be easy. What non-basket-related company will want a giant basket to be the face of their company? Are there enough well-off eccentrics in or visiting Newark to convert it into market-rate apartments or a boutique hotel?...A deal to donate the building to the city no longer appears to be in the works, and foreclosure is a possibility.

A few throwbacks related to weird architecture in Archinect news:

The politics behind China's ban on "weird" architecture

Movie-themed resort in Macau to show off "figure-8" ferris wheel

Southwark planners nix 'crude and literal' rocket-shaped flats

27 weird and compelling architectural evolutions of 2014

Movie-themed resort in Macau to show off "figure-8" ferris wheel

2015-07-16T04:20:00-04:00

The Golden Reel will be the 'centerpiece attraction' of the soon-to-[be]-opened Studio City resort. It will be located between the hotel's two central towers, 427 ft off the ground. The movie-inspired design is said to be based on the idea of two flaming asteroids crashed through the building, leaving two large holes around which the figure-eight shape is made.

Your call, Vegas.

Grimshaw completes the nature-inspired Ecorium, their first project in Asia

2013-11-25T20:14:00-05:00

Grimshaw Architects recently announced the completion of the Ecorium at the National Ecology Center in Seocheon, South Korea -- making this the firm's first project in Asia.

The newly built ecological educational and research center gives visitors a first-hand experience to learn about the Earth's ecosystems all in one place.

Below are more details on the project:

"The project, which was secured through a turnkey design and build competition hosted by Korea’s Ministry of the Environment, uses nature as an immersive teaching tool to showcase the world’s diverse ecosystems. Grimshaw’s New York studio was appointed by Samsung Construction and worked alongside Samoo Architects and Engineers.

The project concept is inspired by the form of an oxbow lake, an aquatic body created by the evolving erosion of a meandering river. The masterplan guides the visitor flow through a series of botanical gardens and into Ecorium."

"Visitors travel through five biomes, seeing, hearing...

CN Tower walk will put visitors on edge

2011-05-10T17:52:44-04:00

The CN Tower will add a new attraction this year that could make bungee jumping look like a walk in the park. The tower’s new EdgeWalk will allow thrill-seekers to stroll outside on the world-famous tower on a 1.5 metre ledge that rings the main pod 356 metres (1,168 feet) above the ground.

Via the Forum