Archinect - News

Heatherwick Studio opens ceramics-rich Xi’an CCBD development in China

2024-12-18T16:08:00-05:00

Heatherwick Studio has updated the new Xi’an Centre Culture Business District upon its first public opening after sharing details of the project with Archinect last November.

The development occupies space between the ruins of the Temple of Heaven and the famed Shaanxi TV Tower. Central to its design is the artistic heritage of ceramics in the region. A nod to the historical presence of the Terracotta Army can be seen in the exterior tiled cladding on each of its buildings’ facades.

Photo credit: Qingyan Zhu

This confers an inviting tactile impression that will further lure its users. The studio’s founder, Thomas Heatherwick, says it also results in an "unexpected three-dimensional urban landscape" equalling 155,000 square meters (or more than 1.6 million square feet).

Photo credit: Qingyan Zhu

Within its pedestrian-centric "sensory experience" comprised of a retail podium, offices, a hotel, and apartments, activity converges around a central plaza with a 187-foot high vertical park ...

Trahan Architects completes community-enhancing pavilion design in Arkansas

2024-12-16T12:49:00-05:00

A new pavilion design in Arkansas from Trahan Architects in a public park designed by Spackman Mossop Michaels is making space that encourages creative play while serving the greater needs of its community.

Funding for the project was provided through the Walton Family Foundation Design Excellence Program. The stunning images from photographer Tim Hursley capture its bold, "weightless" presence against the flat landscape.

Image: © Tim Hursley

Located in the city of Springdale, the new Performance Pavilion space designed for 10-acre Luther George Park is made from steel and doubles as a shade canopy when not in use as an events venue and gathering space for up to 3,000 people.

Image: © Tim Hursley

CIG Architecture, the Dutch manufacturer known for its work with Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, and others, worked closely with the firm to produce the steel shell that will patina over time so as to reveal the effects of the local climate on the architecture.

Image: © Tim Hursley

Uses vary ...

Take a first look inside the newly reopened Notre Dame cathedral

2024-12-11T17:40:00-05:00

Archinect has received first photos of Notre Dame Cathedral’s completed restoration following the special ceremony that was held in Paris over the weekend in celebration of the unprecedented five-year rebuilding effort.

Photo: © Julio Piatti/Notre Dame de Paris

Images taken from inside the restored landmark showcase the extraordinary effort that went into the project, requiring an international army of more than 2,000 workers and skilled tradespeople working under the command of the late four-star General Jean-Louis Georgelin (who died tragically last summer) and his chief architect Philippe Villeneuve.

Photo: © Julio Piatti/Notre Dame de Paris

It was Villeneuve's desire, as he stated, to "erase the horror" felt in the wake of the April 2019 tragedy by restoring the cathedral as closely to Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's 19th century design as possible.

Photo: © Julio Piatti/Notre Dame de Paris

Accounting for the extent of the damage—the church's timber framework, roof, spire, and three sect...

Take a look inside BIG’s brand new concrete HQ office in Copenhagen

2024-10-28T14:04:00-04:00

Images of BIG’s newly opened waterfront headquarters in Copenhagen have been made public after the relocation was completed earlier this spring.

The office known for its familial atmosphere and daily team meals worked on the project collaboratively through its proprietary integrated LEAPP approach (short for internal Landscape, Engineering, Architecture, Planning, and Product Design).

Image copyright Laurian Ghinitoiu

BIG founder Bjarke Ingels shared: "The idea behind LEAPP is an architecture practice as a renaissance, interdisciplinary body of people and knowledge. [...] Every single aspect of LEAPP has been involved in our HQ, including the planning, the product design, the very complex stacking of the concrete elements."

Image copyright Laurian Ghinitoiu

Inside the Piranesian-inspired minimal concrete structure that's located at the tip of a pier in Nordhavn, a sole rotated totem pole-like column made from six types of stone supports a stacked pastiche of open and solid architectu...

Morphosis completes Crow Museum of Asian Art for new UT Dallas arts precinct

2024-09-25T14:12:00-04:00

Today marked the opening of Morphosis' 57,000-square-foot Crow Art Museum of Asian Art for The University of Texas at Dallas. The project forms part of a larger 12-acre cultural precinct called on the Richardson campus that will include two new museums, a performing arts center, and grand plaza area.

Photo: © Mauricio Rojas, Courtesy of UT Dallas

The new two-story facility doubles the space of the current museum. It will be followed later by Phase II, with another two-story building for music and 66,000 square feet of programmable indoor and outdoor space. Phase III will include a car park structure and yet-to-be-named third museum building, according to a press release.

Photo: © Mauricio Rojas, Courtesy of UT Dallas

Partner Arne Emerson is leading the master plan for the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenæum, and says: "By enabling visibility into the learning and creative processes within, and providing a variety of spaces for both planned and spontaneous interaction, we aimed to ...

This Swiss minimalist home was designed as a 'blank canvas' to reflect its Lake Geneva surroundings

2024-09-13T11:42:00-04:00

Geneva, Switzerland-based firm Leopold Banchini Architects has designed a sleek, minimalist home intended to reflect its alpine and waterside surroundings.

Image: Rory Gardiner

Located beside Lake Geneva, looking out at the Alps, Villa M was likened, by the architects, to the work of Swiss painter Ferdinant Hodler. His paintings often depicted mountains reflected in Swiss lakes.

Image: Rory Gardiner

As a reaction to its landscape, the home was built to stay as simple and humble as possible. Its long, plain façade is described as a blank canvas, which reflects into a water basin of the same length. Here, a singular long window opens onto a floating terrace that is of a similar size.

Image: Rory Gardiner

The building’s long rectangular plan, constrained by building regulations, is spread across three levels. A wooden spiral staircase connects the floors.

Image: Rory Gardiner

The ground floor living spaces mainly open out to the surroundings, whil...

San Francisco's Transamerica Pyramid Center reopens with a flourish following Foster + Partners makeover

2024-09-12T19:26:00-04:00

Today marks the grand reopening of the Transamerica Pyramid Center in San Francisco, California, following a $400 million redevelopment project from developer SHVO in partnership with Foster + Partners.

The 853-foot masterpiece William Pereira first bequeathed to the city in the summer of 1972 is now revitalized with modern-day amenities and a new lobby that once again matches his design’s original intentions while better integrating the building with civic life along the ground level.

Image: David Lipman

Outside the lobby, a revitalized Redwood Park with 49 replanted trees was enacted between Two Transamerica and Three Transamerica at Sansome Street to bind the site and program and serve as a new oasis-like destination in the heart of a busy pedestrian/commercial area.

Image: David Lipman

Another exterior component of the project entailed rejuvenating Mark Twain Alley, which is now a more vibrant civic space replete with plum blossom trees that ...

New Beijing Performing Arts Center rises from its historic waterside site with curtain-like forms

2024-09-11T16:40:00-04:00

A new performing arts complex designed by Perkins&Will, in partnership with Schmidt Hammer Lassen, has opened in Beijing. Located in the city’s southeast district, Tongzhou, the Beijing Performing Arts Center sits along the banks of the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, anchoring a recently designated cultural district, which also includes a museum, a library, and extensive parklands.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

The roughly 1.3 million-square-foot complex comprises an opera house, a theater, and a concert hall, along with a multipurpose hall and an outdoor stage.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

Its design recalls the site’s history as a commercial shipping and storage hub by referencing the rooflines of the storehouses that formerly populated the area and the sails of traditional canal boats. The forms also evoke a theater curtain parting at the start of a performance.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

The Center’s structures are unified through a broad, elevated platform that can be accessed from ...

Apple opens 'The Observatory' underground space at Apple Park in Cupertino

2024-09-10T17:11:00-04:00

Apple’s new The Observatory event space at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, has been unveiled by the tech giant as part of the launch event for the new iPhone 16. The design, which is in ways reminiscent of several of James Turrell’s skylit spaces, is marketed as a contemplative experience that dialogues with the surrounding mountainside landscape.

All images provided to Archinect from Apple

The materials palette features terrazzo, natural stone, and timber (the same used in the campus' circular main building and Steve Jobs Theater next door). The building reportedly runs on 100% renewable energy.

All images provided to Archinect from Apple

Early design concepts of The Observatory were led by Foster & Partners. Apple’s Global Architecture & Design team, led by John De Maio, completed the building design and development in collaboration with Gensler.

All images provided to Archinect from Apple

The site offers an elevated view of the main Apple Park building an...

Take a look inside Snøhetta's newly opened Joslyn Art Museum expansion

2024-09-10T15:40:00-04:00

The Joslyn Art Museum celebrates its grand reopening today following a $100 million Snøhetta-led expansion project that established the new 42,000-square-foot Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion on its campus in Omaha, Nebraska.

Photo © Nic Lehoux, courtesy Joslyn Art Museum

Founding partner Craig Dykers shared: "Our goal has been to provide a harmonious place for guests, art, and gathering that will become a vessel for inspiration and creativity to flourish."

Photo © Nic Lehoux, courtesy Joslyn Art Museum

The restoration of the museum's 1931 Art Deco Joslyn Building was another key aspect of the project. Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture was integral to the design and execution of the new pavilion, which joins the Joslyn Building with Norman Foster's 1994 Suzanne & Walter Scott Pavilion via an atrium.

Photo © Nic Lehoux, courtesy Joslyn Art Museum

Th...

MASS Design Group debuts Gun Violence Memorial project at three sites around Boston

2024-09-04T17:37:00-04:00

MASS Design Group has opened a new Gun Violence Memorial Project in the city of Boston that will amplify individual stories of our ongoing collective tragedy nationwide. The firm says the project "aspires to be a catalyst for change and a testament to the resilience of communities affected by gun violence."

Joining the other installations at City Hall and the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston is another memorial house created inside the firm's office at 1 Chandler Street. Each of the installations will remain on view until January 20th, 2025. MASS Design Group is inviting all those interested to attend an opening reception on Tuesday, September 17th, at 7:30 pm. You can RSVP for the event here.

Crow Museum of Asian Art set to open at Morphosis-designed UT Dallas arts and cultural district

2024-08-31T08:00:00-04:00

The Crow Museum of Asian Art is debuting its second location within the Morphosis-designed Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum Arts and Performance Complex at the University of Texas at Dallas.

A ribbon-cutting dedication for the Museum and the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase II of the project, which includes the construction of the performance hall and music building, will be held on September 24th. We'll have photos of the new building soon.

Previously on Archinect: Morphosis designs new arts and cultural district master plan at the University of Texas at Dallas

Snøhetta’s Far Rockaway Library shines as a new literary beacon in Queens

2024-08-20T19:12:00-04:00

This past month saw the opening of Snøhetta’s Far Rockaway Library in Queens, New York. The $39 million project contributes towards the continued revitalization of the community that was heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy, adding an 18,000-square-foot facility that doubles the size of its 56-year-old predecessor.

Image: Jeff Goldberg/Snøhetta

Artist José Parlá’s Style Writing (2022) mural design wraps the glass facade of the building, giving credence to the firm’s intentions of establishing a space dedicated to writers away from the city’s traditional literary strongholds in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Image: Jeff Goldberg/Snøhetta

Inside, users are immersed in a lively “ephemeral” library experience suffused with natural light and augmented with different occupancy sensors that work to reduce energy usage in unison with its building management system.

Image: Jeff Goldberg/Snøhetta

Pointing to the project's ability to support "j...

AECOM's $2 billion Intuit Dome opens in fast-changing Inglewood

2024-08-13T20:09:00-04:00

The landscape for professional sports in Los Angeles has for generations been defined by icons such as Dodger Stadium, Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena), the Rose Bowl, and LA Coliseum.

This week, AECOM’s new Intuit Dome debuts in Inglewood, adding to that tradition. The $1.8 billion project, by many measures one of the most artistic sports venue designs in recent memory, includes 17,700 seats and comes replete with an 80,000-square-foot outdoor plaza area created by City Design Studio with landscaping from Walter Hood.

Image courtesy Los Angeles Clippers

The first permanent home for the LA Clippers was designed to entice fans with an unprecedented gameday experience as highlighted by its centerpiece 38,375-square-foot (nearly one acre) wraparound LED Halo Board — a new record-holder for indoor arenas worldwide. (It has over 233 million LEDs!)

Image courtesy Los Angeles Clippers

Viewed from the outside, the arena appears encased in an interwoven red diagrid steel frame with diam...

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Anderton Court Shops on Rodeo Drive now home to Givenchy LA flagship

2024-08-13T12:42:00-04:00

The first West Coast flagship for Givenchy has openeded inside Frank Lloyd Wright's 1952 Anderton Court Shops building in Beverly Hills. The three-story design — Wright’s only commercial building in Los Angeles — features a central spine-like tower and inverted-V shape facade. It was originally intended to include a penthouse apartment and studio, and, after the most recent update, features a configuration of six boutique spaces serviced by an angular ramp that draws obvious comparisons to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Wright sold it to his client originally as "a little gem of an unusual sort."

Valerie Leon, Givenchy’s president of the Americas, said at its opening: "Given Hubert de Givenchy’s love of art and architecture, the Frank Lloyd Wright building felt like the right choice, and the opportunity to bring Givenchy to life there was inspiring."

The shops were added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 2004.

PEI adds rhythm to the Toronto skyline with new 2221 Yonge Street design

2024-07-30T20:39:00-04:00

The latest addition to Toronto’s skyline, PEI Architects’ 2221 Yonge Street tower, is now open after a 2022 completion. New images of the 56-story design reveal the presence of cantilevered wraparound balconies leading down to a six-story podium with a grand porte-cochère and sloped garden, a facade concept which PEI’s principal Li Chung (Sandi) Pei explains as a "unique design feature, rather than as appendages to a large glassy mass." Quadrangle Architects were included on the project team for the 435,000-square-foot high-rise that includes 566 total residential suites.

It will be joined nearby by Hariri Pontarini Architects' record-breaking Pinnacle One Yonge and the proposed 55 Yonge project from Quadrangle and PARTISANS.

Photo: Kerun Ip, courtesy of PEI Architects

Just in time for the Summer Olympics, Kengo Kuma's Saint-Denis–Pleyel metro station opens in Paris

2024-07-26T18:55:00-04:00

Kengo Kuma’s completed design of the Saint-Denis–Pleyel metro station in Paris is one of the largest and most significant new projects highlighting the city’s push for sustainable urban renewal as a consequence of its turn as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Images shared following its inauguration on June 24th with President Emmanuel Macron in attendance showcase a horizontal composition distinct from the verticality of its surroundings. (It will later boast a sculptural installation from the French artist Prune Nourry.)

Image: © Kengo Kuma & Associates - Photography by Michel Denancé

The station measures 377,000 square feet, making it the largest in the Grand Paris Express rail network. It’s designed to service 250,000 passengers a day from the new Metro lines 14 through 17, with connections to both RER D and GPE 4 commuter trains.

Image: © Kengo Kuma & Associates - Photography by Michel Denancé

Image: © Kengo Kuma...

Safdie Architects stacks vertical gardens in new Shanghai tower complex

2024-07-22T16:07:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has shared photos of their latest contribution to Shanghai's Luwan district, the new LuOne Mixed-Use Complex, after its construction was completed in the past year.

Featuring an eight-story bronze colonnade-lined retail component and a 35-story office tower, the project “answers the pressing need for connection to nature and a place of community within Shanghai’s urban core,” in the words of Senior Partner Christopher Mulvey.

Image: Shao Feng. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Accordingly, the tower’s southwestern edge includes a glass-enclosed “corner garden” running vertically with a series of seven four-story garden spaces stacked to create the appearance of plant life ascending or “climbing” the length of its facade.

Image: Shao Feng. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

The 484,000-square-foot tower was designed to complete the program, which began with the construction of the 1.5 million-square-foot retail galleria in 2018...

Neri&Hu's newest Blue Bottle Shanghai space shelters a community of coffee drinkers from the daily grind

2024-07-18T18:25:00-04:00

A thought-provoking new café design in Shanghai’s mixed-use Columbia Circle complex from Neri&Hu for the Blue Bottle Coffee chain has caught our eye after being completed earlier this year.

Executed at just 1,680 square feet within the leftover footprint evacuated by a former residential building, the new 'The Imprint' café provides customers a respite from the blistering pace of city life with a welcoming sense of 'home' in line with the client's brand identity and community values.

Photo by Zhu Runzi

“Even if the building is no longer visible in the physical world, the traces it leaves in our individual or collective memories serve as a source of nostalgia and remembering,” the firm states in their project description.

Photo by Zhu Runzi

Within its white suspended massing, the impression of a corrugated roof's mold is used to manifest a sentimental attachment to the space in dialogue with the remaining composition of recycled clay bricks and plaster.

Photo by Zhu Runzi

"Despite the...

Snøhetta completes redesign of the Blanton Museum of Art grounds with rain-capturing shade structures and native plants

2024-07-17T14:31:00-04:00

Snøhetta has completed work on their $35 million redesign of The Blanton Museum of Art grounds for the University of Texas at Austin.

The debut of the New Ground Initiative comes at the end of a three-year revitalization that saw the Blanton continuously operate during construction. The 200,000-square-foot campus now has a greater permanent presence as the gateway between the university and city of Austin thanks to public art installations and key improvements to the existing landscape design and architecture.

Image courtesy Casey Dunn

Lead architects and UTSOA alumni Craig Dykers, John Newman, and Elaine Molinar were able to guide the project using their student experiences, resulting in an inclusive new space.

Image courtesy Casey Dunn

At the center of the project stands a previously completed intervention of petal-like 40-by-30-foot metallic shade structures that was designed to reconcile an open area now referred to as the Moody Patio. Besides providing protection from Texas's re...

OMA's 'anti-iconic' Bordeaux bridge design wants to be more than just a bridge

2024-07-12T18:08:00-04:00

Archinect has received photos of the newly opened Simone Veil Bridge, designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas and Chris van Duijn in Bordeaux, France. The project spans 549 meters (1,801 feet) in length and is 44 meters (144 feet) wide, connecting the communes of Floirac and Bègles over the Garonne River.

Photo by Clement Guillaume, courtesy OMA

OMA said this about their unusual bridge programming: "It abandons any interest in style, form, and structural expression in favor of a commitment to performance and an interest in future use by the people of Bordeaux. Cars, modes of public transportation, and bicycles all have their own lanes, with the largest by far dedicated to foot traffic. The width of the bridge’s platform is doubled to create 28 meters of neutral, unprogrammed space that can be used for any cultural or commercial purpose, such as farmers’ markets, art fairs, bicycle rallies, car club meetings, and festivals for music or wine."

Photo by JB Menges, courtesy of Bordeaux Metropol

Part...

Kengo Kuma's new Seoul audio museum opens as an 'architectural instrument'

2024-07-10T14:37:00-04:00

Kengo Kuma and Associates has inaugurated what could be this year’s most interesting new cultural project, the new Audeum (or Audio Museum) in Seoul, South Korea, following a two-year construction period.

The world’s first museum experience dedicated to sound is approximately 2.4 million square feet and supports sensory healing while offering visitors a unique experience of both its architecture and exhibitions in a design that's meant to evoke the forest canopy surroundings it appears to be a metallic natural outgrowth of.

Image courtesy Namsun Lee

The design team describes it as a "place where you can not only see but also experience sound firsthand. [...] it is not just a place to listen to sound; it is an architectural instrument that returns humans to a natural state, allowing them to experience the five senses of the body."

Image courtesy Yongbaek Lee

Image courtesy Namsun Lee

The idea for its establishment can be credited to Korean acoustics equipment s...

Grimshaw's new pedestrian bridge opens in Toulouse

2024-07-09T15:35:00-04:00

The Grimshaw-designed Robert Poujade pedestrian bridge in Toulouse has officially opened.

Developed alongside ppa.architecture as part of a consortium led by French civil engineering construction company Eiffage, which included Ingérop, ATP, and Quartiers Lumières, the bridge is one of four that will connect the Île du Ramier and the city. It will provide accessible routes through Toulouse’s new “green lung” on the Garonne River.

Photo: Marc Mondange

The footbridge will serve as a catalyst for the development of the northern end of the Île du Ramier. This will include the redevelopment of the former Parc des Expositions site, along with car-free pedestrian access to the Art Deco Nakache swimming pool and stadium.

Photo: Marc Mondange

The approximately 525-foot-long bridge will link the city’s Fer à Cheval district to the north of the island. On the city side, it is connected to the riverbank, with access to the river promenade and cycle path. It is also connected to the Avenue du Mu...

MVRDV delivers 'diamond'-encrusted facade for Tiffany’s newest Shanghai location

2024-07-08T14:09:00-04:00

MVRDV has shared details of its latest design, the new Tiffany & Co. location in Shanghai’s Taikoo Li Qiantan retail development, featuring a glittering imitation of a diamond-encrusted facade.

The firm’s newest project for the jeweler follows last year's coral-inspired 3D design at the Singapore Changi Airport and utilizes a screen made from 6,988 handcrafted glass 'diamonds' to produce an effect that offers many variances depending on the time of day.

Behind the screen, an in-store café and accompanying balcony separate the showroom areas and private salons that are included on every floor. The 3.3-pound glass jewels are suspended from steel cables and given a mirrored steel finish to complete the effect, held together finally by specially designed steel fixtures positioned to prevent them from moving or spinning on their supports.

The facade component is completely dismantleable and will have its parts reused or recycled afte...

First photos of Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies' 2024 Serpentine Pavilion

2024-06-05T13:15:00-04:00

London's annual Serpentine Pavilion is gearing up for its grand opening on Friday with a first preview of this year's completed design by Korean architect Minsuk Cho.

Envisioned together with his Seoul-based firm Mass Studies, the 23rd annual summer pavilion, titled Archipelagic Void, departs from the tradition of a single-structure installation and is, instead, comprised of five thematic 'islands' arranged around a central void, inspired by traditional Korean madang courtyards.

Serpentine Pavilion 2024, Archipelagic Void, designed by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies © Mass Studies Photo: Iwan Baan Courtesy: Serpentine

Acting as the main pavilion entry, the Gallery will feature a six-channel sound installation envisioned by musician and composer Jang Young-Gyu, presenting The Willow <버들은> during the summer months and Moonlight <월정명> in the fall.

Serpentine Pavilion 2024, Archipelagic Void, designed by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies © Mass Studies Photo: Iwan Baan Courtesy: Serpentine

Located in th...

Take a look at Reiser+Umemoto's completed Kaohsiung Port Terminal

2024-06-01T10:00:00-04:00

Reiser+Umemoto, RUR Architecture DPC has shared new photos of their recently completed Kaohsiung Port Terminal project in Taiwan’s busiest commercial port.

The nearly eight-year construction exemplifies the firm’s conception of “3D Urbanism,” breaking apart the design vertically across three separate datums that carry different functions for passengers and pedestrians as oriented to the existing city grid.

Image courtesy Fei & Cheng Associates

The firm explains: “RUR’s work with 3D Urbanism comes from a long-standing set of explorations challenging the monofunctionally of infrastructure projects which are traditionally conceived and designed to do a single task well, much in the vein of civil engineering. RUR takes an architect’s approach to infrastructure, which eschews monofunctionally in favor of polyfunctional spaces which productively transform the terminal typology from an inert piece of urban hardware into a dynamic space of civic, cultural and commercial interchange.”

Image...

Pelli Clarke & Partners completes 57-story Salesforce Tower in Chicago

2024-05-30T17:53:00-04:00

Pelli Clarke & Partners has completed work on their new Salesforce Tower project at Chicago's Wolf Point mixed-use development. The 852-foot tower is the final piece of the 15-year puzzle that transforms a four-acre portion of waterfront between the Riverwalk and Merchandise Mart and boasts a total of 1.2 million square feet of offices for the technology giant and leading national law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Photo by Jason O'Rear

"It has been a privilege to shape the transformation of Wolf Point and contribute to the design of Chicago’s iconic skyline for nearly 15 years," Partner Darin Cook said of their second commercial project for the Windy City. "We have long been inspired by Chicago’s rich architectural tradition and history of innovation. In creating Salesforce Tower, we designed a tower that reaches boldly skyward, is imbued with lightness, and takes a sculptural form."

Photo by Jason O'Rear

Featuring an internal floor plate configuration that enables a max...

Studio Libeskind's refreshing social housing development debuts at the Sumner Houses in Brooklyn

2024-05-24T18:25:00-04:00

Studio Libeskind has inaugurated its new social housing development in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, called The Atrium at Sumner, after a three-year, $132 million construction. The 11-story, 132,418-square-foot development yields 190 total units, with an 8,309-square-foot community space located on the ground floor along Marcus Garvey Boulevard.

Image: Hufton+Crow

The building’s design features a dramatic interplay of opening and solids in a folding form finished in distinct optic white EIFS facade cladding that distinguishes it from the brick buildings on the 66-year-old NYCHA campus. A year-round interior garden gives name to the development, which features a host of amenities included to support aging-in-place alternatives for senior residents of the studio and one-bedroom apartments, 25 of which come fully adapted for those living with disabilities or who are visually or hearing-impaired.

Image: Hufton+Crow

The project came together through a consortium of stakeholders that includes the New...

New interlocking tower blocks by Foster + Partners open in Dubai

2024-05-08T15:47:00-04:00

A pair of interlocking high-end residential and hotel towers designed by Foster + Partners recently held its official opening ceremony in Dubai.

Rising to 30 and 31 stories, respectively, The Lana and The Lana Residences demand their presence on the skyline of the Marasi Marina waterfront, located between downtown Dubai and the Dubai Design District.

Photo: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

The concept behind the scheme is driven by seven vertical gardens throughout the development, which aim to act as social hubs for guests and residents. The architectural language will be echoed in the design of two more upcoming residential towers nearby, called VELA and VELA VIENTO, which we recently published on Archinect.

Photo: Ahmed Alnaji

"The idea behind the design was to create a building that responds to its surroundings with a unique sense of place derived from its interlocking gardens," said Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners. "The fluidity of spaces and the relationship t...

WXY opens beachfront community center for Rockaway, Queens

2024-04-30T17:28:00-04:00

WXY Architecture + Urban Design has opened its new Arverne East Nature Preserve and Welcome Center in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens.

The project forms the first phase of New York City’s first net-zero residential community with 1,650 new units. It was realized at 6,000 square feet and includes a community meeting room and space for the Parks and Recreation Department's Urban Park Rangers program and The Campaign Against Hunger.

WXY Founding Principal Claire Weisz describes: "Arverne East represents a unique and innovative path forward for the Rockaways — one rooted in honoring local knowledge, collective power, and an ongoing practice of community stewardship. The sustainable and resilient architecture creates an inviting, accessible space to connect with nature — a promontory for everyone from beachgoers to community organizers to Parks Department staff."