This year April brought about all kinds of emotions among the architecture community. We laughed, we cried, we got self-reflective and we got angry... all the good stuff that fuels the passion behind this field we love to hate and hate to love.
IKEA Buys Naming Rights to Heatherwick’s Vessel at Hudson Yards
This year we pulled off one of our favorite April Fools' Day pranks, taking advantage of the massive hype and controversy of the just-opened Vessel at Hudson Yards, designed by Thomas Heatherwick. Our claim that IKEA had purchased the naming rights, renaming it "IKEA Vässel", with plans to convert the structure into a massive ball pit, surprisingly fooled a lot of readers both on Archinect and around social media. Personally, I would love to dive into this... let's not lose hope!
Fire breaks out at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
The world mourned as we watched one of history's highest achievements in architecture burn. Once the tears started drying, however, people were quick to point out the irrationality of the immense sadness about the loss of a building, with all the massive private funding to repair the structure, while so many people around the world suffer with greater problems. The controversy continued as design proposals immediately started pouring in from around the world. Most notably, Norman Foster's proposal to replace the roof with a modern glass roof, spire and viewing platform was among the first responses to quickly to receive criticism. Other proposals included one of paper(!?) by Shigeru Ban and a rebuilding with 3D printing using the ashes.
Francis Kéré, Office Kovacs and others unveil installations at Coachella
Each year the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival brings together some of the most popular emerging young artists in a celebration of music, design, feathers, drugs and bandanas. This year was no exception, with festival installations by familiar names such as Francis Kéré and Office Kovacs.
Remembering Francois Perrin, beloved architect, father, and friend
April started out on a very sad note for many of us here in Los Angeles. Francois Perrin, a friend to many in the local architecture and art scene, passed away from a rare form of cancer, suddenly to most who knew him well. Francois was an immensely humble, gracious, and talented young architect who would have continued to bring a lot of great work and inspiration to the community.
Zumthor's LACMA has been approved - here's what will be lost
LACMA originally tapped Peter Zumthor for the design of a new building for the museum over 6 years ago, in May 2013. Even back then, many Archinectors began to note the problems with the plan that would develop into greater controversy and anger, as the city still continues to debate the project as the impending start date nears. This April the city of Los Angeles officially approved the design, with stars like Brad Pitt and Diane Keaton attending the public hearing to voice their support. Meanwhile, the LA Times' Christopher Knight tore the proposal a new one.
While the topic of unpaid, or unfairly paid, internships is nothing new, this April saw a couple big pushes toward ending this practice. Revelations that this year's selected Serpentine Pavilion designer, Junya Ishigami, was not paying his interns lead to MIT cancelling his guest lecture in April when Ishigami refused to agree to discuss the issue with the faculty and students at the lecture. This particular case was unique because it not only resurfaced the practice of unpaid internships, but it also exposed the different attitudes of this practice in other countries and cultures. The Architecture Lobby, as a result, released a statement denouncing the practice of unpaid internships, taking advantage of the elevated discourse on the topic.
A Black Architecture Education Experience
One of the most revealing stories we shared this year on Archinect was a piece by Demar Matthews, an African American architecture student, who shared "A Black Architecture Education Experience." While it may seem that we've made a lot of progress in recent decades toward equality, perspectives like Demar's reveals how far we still have to go.
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