Archinect - News

Engineers develop bone-inspired concrete for stronger structures

2024-09-19T13:33:00-04:00

Inspired by the natural architecture of human bone, engineers at Princeton University have developed a new cement-based material that significantly enhances the toughness of traditional concrete. This innovative material resists cracking and sudden failure, making it a promising solution for more durable and long-lasting architectural structures.

The research, led by Professor Reza Moini and Ph.D. candidate Shashank Gupta from Princeton's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was published in Advanced Materials. The study introduces a unique design that incorporates cylindrical and elliptical tubes within the cement paste. Mimicking the structure of bone, specifically the tubular osteons found in human cortical bone, this design allows the concrete to trap and delay crack propagation. This “stepwise cracking” mechanism absorbs more energy, reducing the likelihood of sudden collapse.

Architecture of cortical bone. a) Schematic cross-section of human femur bone illustr...

Steven Holl completes Rubenstein Commons at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ

2022-11-30T13:16:00-05:00

Steven Holl Architects has reached another milestone following the completion of the new Rubenstein Commons at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, in late October.

The new 17,175-square-foot building provides the 92-year-old IAS with much-needed modern facilities while serving as a social condenser for researchers and the broader academic community.

Photo: Paul Warchol, image courtesy of Steven Holl Architects.

Its design is inspired by the impetus for scholarly collaboration and therefore features a series of intertwining spaces set within an undulating, low-rise volume that connects to the existing Fuld Hall building and a trio of adjacent water features located to the north, west, and south on the IAS’s 589-acre campus.

Photo: Paul Warchol, image courtesy of Steven Holl Architects.

“By having the ability to come together, the grea...

Kevin Lippert, influential Princeton Architectural Press founder, has passed away aged 63

2022-04-01T18:37:00-04:00

The architecture and publishing worlds have lost an icon after news broke yesterday about the passing of legendary Princeton Architectural Press founder Kevin Lippert on March 29th following a long battle with cancer.

Lippert founded the Press while still a student at the Princeton University School of Architecture in 1981. He was instrumental in publishing Steven Holl’s seminal 1989 manifesto Anchoring, which launched the architect’s name into the mainstream and continues to be considered one of the most fundamental design texts of the past half-century.

Very sorry to hear about the death of Kevin Lippert, founder of Princeton Architectural Press. Though I did not work with Kevin directly on the two books I did with PAP, his impact on those projects was clearly felt. pic.twitter.com/HTJauCCKvl
— Blair Kamin (@BlairKamin) March 30, 2022

His direction led the development of the once small company into a relative giant in the world of commercial book publishing, expanding several time...

The author of 'Architecture in Black' delivers an exhibition that depicts Blackness as a 'process of unraveling and becoming'

2021-04-12T14:59:00-04:00

In 2000, distinguished scholar, designer, inventor, and teacher Darell Wayne Fields, Ph.D. published "Architecture in Black." His book is a theoretical treatise that expands on the historical, philosophical, and semiotic texts regarding race in architectural discourse. It argues "architecture, as an aesthetic practice, and blackness, as a linguistic practice, operate within the same semiotic paradigm." Through this extensive examination, Fields curated On Solitude which is described as a "contemporaneous anthology" that shadows Architecture in Black.

Image © Michael Vahrenwald. Courtesy of Princeton University School of Architecture.

I thought Blackness’s intersection with architecture represented epic struggle and conflict. The conflict remains true in what the exhibition has to say (to me), but there’s a critical difference. The artifacts, interacting together, signify and witness architecture’s subtle, yet persistent, unraveling. - Darell Wayne Fields

Image © Michael Vahrenwald....

What will the future of architectural education look like?

2020-10-15T14:47:00-04:00

It's safe to say that nobody knows what the future of architectural education will be. These days it's hard to know what next month will bring us. Few people would argue, however, that academia is ripe for change, as are many facets of modern life that have not evolved at the pace the world has changed in recent decades.

To address this necessary change, we invite you to join us for a special discussion this upcoming Monday, from 1-2 pm EST / 10-11 am PST, featuring a distinguished panel of leaders of architectural education. Deans from across the country will be addressing, head-on, the change they hope to see, and the challenges they currently face to make that change.

To RSVP for this virtual panel, please click the "reserve" button at this link. Space is limited and registration is required to attend.

The Panelists

Hernán Díaz Alonso has been the director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture since 2015, where is held the position of distinguished faculty membe...

Princeton SoA students publish open letter demanding racial justice

2020-07-20T13:20:00-04:00

Students of the Princeton University School of Architecture have published a letter advocating for widespread changes to how the school operates in order to pursue an anti-racist agenda.

The open letter, published as an Op-Ed in The Daily Princetonian, offers a nine point plan for beginning to move the institution in the right direction. The letter, which is signed by over 80 current students and nearly 200 alumni, seeks to have the university divest from campus policing initiatives, recruit Black students, faculty, and speakers, provide administrative and financial support for Black students, center Black voices in the school's curriculum, "dismantle white supremacy in studio," ban inequitable labor practices at the school, implement anti-racism training for professors, staff, and students, deepen university and community relationships with the Black community, all the while pursuing these goals with a focus on transparency and accountability.

Previously on Archinect: "Princeton'...

Princeton SOA "Manual of Urban Distance" awarded COVID-19 research funding

2020-04-20T11:34:00-04:00

Princeton University School of Architecture Professors Paul Lewis and Guy Nordenson have been awarded a research grant by the Princeton University Funding Program for Rapid Novel and Actionable COVID-19 Research Projects fund to help propel the duo's work on "Manual of Urban Distance: Strategies for Reconfiguring the City," a guide that investigates "the challenges of physical distancing in urban settings and [explores] strategies that minimize the effects of potential resurgences of COVID-19 and other future pandemics."

According to the Princeton School of Architecture website, "Lewis and Nordenson's proposal focuses on the fact that distancing has been especially crucial in the dense urban environments of cities as the rate of infection in the world’s cities greatly outpaces that of suburban or rural areas. The density of the city, which has historically been considered its greatest asset, economically, socially and environmentally, is now precisely at odds with the realities of a...

Get Lectured: Princeton, Fall '19

2019-10-09T13:30:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2019

With a new school year already here, it's time for Archinect's latest edition of Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Focusing on the theme of “Atmosphere”, the Princeton University School of Architecture's Fall '19 event series has upcoming lectures from Débora Mesa, Sylvia Lavin, Philippe Rahm, Anna Dyson, and Atelier Barda.

Other events this semester include “On Content and Method: Current Interests in Conversation with Mario Gooden and James Welling”, the Current Interests exhibition, the Architecture Arboretum exhibition, and a two-part screening of the film “Liquid Landscapes”.

Check out previous posters on the Get Lectured Pin...

Ladies in the room: With women at the helm of several architecture schools in the U.S., where does gender disparity go from here?

2019-07-16T10:50:00-04:00

People often ask me if that’s the reason women don’t go into architecture or leave architecture, but I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s one single reason. I think for decades it has been a combination of lots of little reasons - being the only woman in the room, not being respected on construction sites, and add into that working hours, balanced with wanting to be a parent, all those things together have discouraged women. But I do see it changing.

In 2019, the rise of female leadership and representation in architectural academia has become more apparent then ever. In practice and academia, women have risen to position themselves amongst a male-dominated profession. Yale has Deborah Berke, Cornell has Meejin Yoon, Columbia has Amale Andraos, Princeton has Mónica Ponce de León, Harvard has the newly appointed Sarah Whiting, and recently Pratt Institute has announced the deanship of Dr. Harriet Harriss.

With the following institutions showcasing women leading the charge, what exactly does this mean for increasing equity and representation to the profession? In a recent interview, Deborah Berke chats with Forbes about what needs to happen in order for gender disparity to dwindle.

During her interview with Heather Senison, Berke talks numbers and shares why women have turned away from the profession. When asked about architecture schools and if institutions need to do a better job at attracting female leadership and students, Be...

Get Lectured: Princeton, Spring '19

2019-02-08T14:29:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Spring 2019

It's time for Archinect's latest Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

For Spring '19, Princeton Architecture's lecture series line-up features Fosbury Architecture, Oana Stanescu, Annette M. Kim, Jeanne Gang, Jesse Reiser, Rafael Moneo, Michael Maltzan, Amanda Levete, Henry Cobb, and more.

The school will also host exhibitions, workshops, discussions, symposia, and performances, such as the “Recurrent Visions: The Architecture of Marshall Brown Projects” exhibition, the Women in Design and Architecture Conference, and the Marcel Breuer: Building Global Institutions Roundtable.

Want to see more lecture posters? Check out previous pos...

Get Lectured: Princeton, Spring '18

2018-01-23T17:39:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2018

Archinect's Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The Princeton School of Architecture kicks off their Spring 2018 event series on February 6. Events include lectures from Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen, Meredith Miller from T+E+A+M, and David Adjaye, to name a few, as well as the “Lina Bo Bardi: Material Ideologies” conference and the “Material Colloquium”.

Feb 6 — 6pm
Amanda Williams, Artist; Visiting Professor in Architecture, Cornell University

Feb 15 — 6pm
Vivian Lee / Principal, LAMAS; Assistant Professor of Architecture, University of Toronto

Feb 22 — 6pm
Jennifer Bonner / Director, MALL; Assistant Profes...

Steven Holl-designed Lewis Center for the Arts complex opens at Princeton University

2017-10-10T16:14:00-04:00

A four-day arts festival marked the opening of Princeton University's new Lewis Center for the Arts complex this past weekend. Designed by Steven Holl Architects in partnership with BNIM, the 145,000-sq-ft facility is comprised of three buildings — the Wallace Dance Building and Theater, the New Music Building, and the Arts Tower — and completes the university's long dream of uniting the Center’s programs in dance, theater, music theater, the Princeton Atelier, and the Department of Music’s expansion under one, well, three roofs.

The three buildings are interconnected underground and joined in an 8,000 square-foot open indoor gathering space, dubbed the Forum. A landscaped outdoor plaza with a reflecting pool and green spaces — developed in collaboration with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates — sits atop the Forum, and an outdoor installation by Maya Lin has been commissioned and will be added later.

Read on for more images and project details we've received from the ...

Get Lectured: Princeton, Fall '17

2017-09-15T17:20:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2017

Ready or not, it's the start of a new school year. Back for Fall 2017 is Archinect's Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The Princeton University School of Architecture just started their Fall '17 lecture series. Check it out below.

Sept 14 — 6pm
“Drawing Things Together”
V. Mitch McEwen / Assistant Professor at Princeton University School of Architecture; Principal, McEwen Studio / A(n) Office

Sept 28 — 6pm
“Loud Lines BairBalliet”
Kelly Bair / Partner at BairBalliet; Assistant Professor of Architecture, University of Illinois at Chicago
Kristy Balliet / Partner at BairBalliet; Associate Professor of Architecture, Ohio State University;...

Researchers develop a new solution to protect deteriorating marble

2017-02-13T17:32:00-05:00

Princeton University researchers have announced the development of a low-cost, nontoxic coating that can preserve iconic stone structures from decay. Comprised of hydroxyapatite, a calcium compound that can be found in bones and teeth, the solution seeps into the stone’s surface, binding cracks. According to the press release, the result is a stronger, more resilient work of art.

The researchers developed the solution for the stone monuments that populate the Certosa di Bologna cemetery in Italy. Made of marble, the stones have started to deteriorate. Apparently, the major innovation at hand is finding that the nontoxic solvent used in the solution, water, can seep deep into the cracks, causing a reaction within 24 hours.

Now researchers are working towards further improving the hydroxyapatite treatment by adding alcohol as well as electric currents.

Via Princeton

Get Lectured: Princeton University, Fall '15

2015-10-09T13:20:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is ready for another school year. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Our next featured poster comes from the Princeton University School of Architecture.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Unless noted, lectures take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays in Betts Auditorium, School of Architecture.

Oct 14
Jinhee Park / Principal, SsD - New York, Seoul
"Micro-Urbanism"

Oct 21
Dr. Lukasz Stanek / University of Manchester
"Team 10 East"

Oct 28
Jan De Vylder / Architect-Manager, Architecten de Vylder Vinck Taillieu, BVBA - Gent, Belgium
"About this. And that."

Nov 9
Monica Ponce de Leon / MPdL Studio; Dean, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Univers...

Zaera-Polo responds to alleged Wikipedia plagiarism in Biennale texts

2015-03-17T14:16:00-04:00

Explaining his move, he said that, while it was ‘unorthodox in an academic setting’, the citations were removed to give the publication more relevance to the general public and less of an academic tone. [...] In a letter to Princeton University, Koolhaas defended Zaera-Polo, saying that the publication was intended as a ‘polemic, not an academic document’.

Alejandro Zaera-Polo resigned from his deanship at Princeton University's School of Architecture back in October, amidst rumors of plagiarism in texts supplied to Rem Koolhaas' 2014 Venice Biennale. Now, in a letter published on his website, Zaera-Polo clarifies the rumors, and addresses the precise incidents of alleged plagiarism. His position, one supported by Rem Koolhaas, maintains that as the Biennale's texts were intended to be "polemic", "non-academic" and "speculative", they did not require the same academic citation standards that a university like Princeton would require.

See the full text of Zaera-Polo's statement below, titled "A Clarifying Statement", courtesy of architectsjournal.co.uk:

To whom it may concern:

I am making the following statement in order to finally clarify the reasons for my sudden resignation from the Post of Dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University on October 30 2014. This is now imperative not just in respect to the rumors spread on t...

Michael Graves has died at the age of 80

2015-03-12T17:53:00-04:00

Michael Graves, the renowned architect and founder of Michael Graves Architecture & Design (MGA&D), died peacefully of natural causes in his home in Princeton, New Jersey on Thursday. He was 80 years old.

Born in Indianapolis on July 9, 1934, Michael Graves is regarded as bringing "post-modernism" to the masses. As a young architect, Graves worked for George Nelson who sparked his deep interest in American pop culture, which was conveyed throughout his work. Graves also collaborated with teaching colleague Peter Eisenman in numerous competitions and was also part of the New York Five. Wherever Michael Graves' name was mentioned, plenty of attention -- good or not -- was sure to follow, and will continue to do so for years to come. For starters, the Kean University Michael Graves School of Architecture is slated to open later this year.

His firm, Michael Graves Architecture & Design, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014. Reflecting Graves' wide range of design interests and focuse...

Get Lectured: Princeton, Spring '15

2015-03-04T14:32:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Next up, the Princeton University School of Architecture has a delightful spectrum of vivid posters for their Spring '15 lecture series, "Deans/Chairs/Directors: The Futures of Architectural Education."

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Below are upcoming events only. Unless noted, lectures are held at 6 pm on Wednesdays in Betts Auditorium, School of Architecture.

Mar 25
Jonathan Massey / Architecture Division Director - California College of Arts

Apr 8
Rodolphe el-Khoury / Khoury Levit Fong; Dean - University of Miami School of Architecture

Apr 15
Hernan Diaz Alonso / Xefirotarch; C...

First Look at Rick Joy's Princeton Train Station

2015-02-13T10:55:00-05:00

Princeton University’s campus is, in Rick Joy’s words, “a beautiful sculpture garden of famous architects’ buildings.” Now Joy, the Tucson-based architect, has added his own sculpture to that garden, in the form of a train station made of blackened stainless steel and precast concrete.

Renown critic and photographer Fred Bernstein and Jeff Goldberg tag-team a first look at Rick Joy's built foray into public architecture and it's a real treat.

Get Lectured: Princeton, Fall '14

2014-10-07T13:19:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2014

Say hello to another edition of Archinect's Get Lectured, where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. If you're not doing so already, be sure to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Today's poster features "The New How" the Princeton University School of Architecture, "The New How". Speakers include David Benjamin, Jenny Sabin, Patrik Shumacher, Greg Lynn, and David Rockwell.

The series aims at "addressing the new realms of instrumentality affecting the practice of architecture and the neighboring disciplines of urbanism, planning, landscape, and design...These instruments, mostly but not exclusively in digital form, have evolved in parallel to a process of the erasure of borders between artistic disciplines...We will now temporarily suspend the what? and the why?, and focus on the how? in order to address these emerging technical constituencies."

Want to sha...

Big businesses and baby steps: Weekly News Round-Up for September 22 and 29, 2014

2014-10-06T18:43:00-04:00

Friday, October 3:

Eisenhower Memorial clears key hurdle on Gehry design: In a positive step for the Memorial's Approving Process Odyssey, the National Capital Planning Commission has OK'd the Commission on Fine Arts (the other federal body that must approve the design) to vote on the Memorial.
Where are the women? Measuring progress on gender in architecture: A series of infographics on the representation of women in architectural practice and education, courtesy of ACSA.

Wednesday, October 1:

Guggenheim plans New York expansion… again: Not for more art space (Gehry tried that before) but for offices.
Zaera-Polo steps down as dean of Princeton's School of Architecture: From the press release: "the school's former dean, Professor Stanley T. Allen, will serve as acting dean until a permanent successor is appointed and that Professor Allen will chair the search for the new dean."
Tiny Spanish Island to be First Energy Self-Sufficient Island: The 10,000 population island will use renewable e...

Build it and they will come: Princeton architecture at the Venice Biennale

2014-08-04T14:39:00-04:00

This year's Venice Architecture Biennale, an international showcase of trends and research, showcases the work of a number of Princeton faculty and students. It marks the greatest number of invitations Princeton has received to participate in the Biennale, reflecting the University's strength in pioneering research. "Much like other art biennales, its purpose is to present the current panorama of the discipline," said Alejandro Zaera-Polo, dean of Princeton's School of Architecture.

Get Lectured: Princeton-Mellon Initiative, Spring '14

2014-03-26T12:57:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2014

Archinect's Get Lectured is up and running again for the Winter/Spring '14 term! As a refresher from our Fall 2013 guide, every week we'll feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current season. If you're not doing so already, be sure to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

For our midweek feature, we have the Spring '14 poster from the Princeton-Mellon Initiative in Architecture, Urbanism, and Humanities -- a three-year interdisciplinary program launched by Princeton University with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Listed below are upcoming lectures only. Lectures take place on Thursdays at 4:30 pm in Avery N107.

April 3
Barry Bergdoll / Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology - Columbia University; Curator - Museum o...

Get Lectured: Princeton Fall '13

2013-11-15T13:41:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2013

Here on Archinect we recently launched "Get Lectured", where we'll feature a school's lecture series--along with their snazzy posters--for the current season. UPDATE: We've begun adding international schools!

Although the Fall '13 term will wrap up soon for many schools, we'll still post some select posters and lecture series worth checking out.

Our featured poster of the day comes from the Princeton University School of Architecture. The "Rarefied" series still has two more lectures for the fall term. Each Wednesday session will present debates between speakers, Princeton SoA faculty, and select graduate students as they discuss different modalities of "Rarefied" architecture -- described in the shortened summary below:

"Princeton School of Architecture will hold a series of lectures and public debates about the aesthetics of the Rarefied: what is the architecture that grows in a resource-depleted environment? Rarefied aims t...

With 'Power in a Box,' Princeton students win national competition

2012-05-02T15:34:00-04:00

Converting a standard shipping container into a sustainable source of energy for remote or disaster-torn regions, a team of Princeton University students took top honors in an 18-month national competition that culminated April 21 and 22 on the Washington, D.C., Mall.

Alejandro Zaera-Polo named dean of Princeton's School of Architecture

2012-03-27T18:54:00-04:00

Alejandro Zaera-Polo has been a visiting lecturer in architecture at Princeton since 2008. His appointment as dean, which requires approval of the University's Board of Trustees, will be effective July 1. He will succeed Stan Allen, the school's dean since 2002, who will step down at the end of this academic year to return to full-time teaching and architectural design.

Ralph Lerner, 1950-2011

2011-05-12T16:25:51-04:00

Ralph Lerner, architect and former dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University, died in Princeton on Saturday, May 7, following a long battle with brain cancer. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Lerner resigned as dean at the University of Hong Kong Department of Architecture for health reasons and returned to the United States earlier this year.