October 2015

↑ SANAA's meandering "River" community center opens to the public  

SANAA's gleaming "River" community center, which Archinect first mentioned in 2012, finally opened its doors to the public. While the building is generally favored, Archinector Will Galloway shared an op-ed by architecture critic Alexandra Lange that questions the role of community in its design.

↑ Bjarke Ingels and the challenges of designing Two World Trade Center 

This post highlighted an in-depth profile on the "Superstar Architect transforming NYC's skyline", Bjarke Ingels, who's been making headlines again for his proposed scheme for Two WTC. Needless to say, the article sparked heated discussion among Archinectors on Ingels and starchitect-ness.

↑ An environmental psychologist on why boring design is bad for your health 

In this article, environmental psychologist and neuroscientist Colin Ellard wrote about the negative effects of boring street design and the resulting "boredom epidemic" among city dwellers. While Ellard's research isn't surprising (especially to architects), the article prompted discussions revolving around the everyday, real-world experience of architectural design.

↑ GreenWave's 3D ocean farm initiative wins the 2015 Buckminster Fuller Challenge 

GreenWave won the $100,000 grand prize from the fiercely competitive 2015 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. The non-profit group's winning project is reportedly the world's first 3D multi-species ocean farm, a vertical underwater garden that aims to restore ocean ecosystems and work toward a blue-green economy.

↑ Meet the architects behind the winning Dry Futures proposals

After Archinect's Dry Futures competition was met with great success, we reached out to the winning designers to get to know a little more about them. In case you missed them, you can listen to each of their interviews.

↑ Does Frank Gehry – or his firm – have what it takes to save the LA River? 

The out-of-the-blue announcement that Gehry will be involved in the redevelopment of the L.A. River sparked criticism and skepticism — especially when a $1.4 billion revitalization plan already called dibs on restoring an 11-mile stretch of the river.  While Gehry's schemes are yet to be revealed in fuller detail, this post shares the perspectives of local groups involved in the renewal efforts.

↑ Building a collaborative practice: Caroline Bos of UNStudio lectures at LACMA

UNStudio co-founder Caroline Bos delivered a public lecture at LACMA. In addition to discussing the firm's key works and upcoming projects, she highlighted their ongoing shift toward a more "co-creative" form of practice known as open-source Knowledge Sharing.

↑ Geoff Manaugh, Smout Allen, and co. investigate the future of Los Angeles in a new exhibition at the USC Libraries

Nicholas Korody recapped the opening reception of the "L.A.T.B.D." exhibition, currently at the USC Libraries until January 31. Created by an interdisciplinary group including Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG and Smout Allen, this game-like "infrastructural noir" of an exhibition investigates the future of Los Angeles “through endlessly branching narrative chains.” 

October 2015

↑ The humanity of the Chicago Architecture Biennial 

Archinect flew to the Windy City for the opening of the first-ever Chicago Architecture Biennial. Amelia Taylor-Hochberg gave an overview of the theme "The State of the Art of Architecture", which indicates "that architects today do not feel beholden to any strict form of practice – [that] these designers base their work around issues, not program..."

↑ The Deans List: Amale Andraos of Columbia University's GSAPP  

Archinect interviewed Amale Andraos for our Deans List series. Andraos gives insight into her deanship since succeeding Mark Wigley and what's ahead for GSAPP.