In an effort to highlight the enduring influence and mystique of Frank Lloyd Wright’s groundbreaking designs on contemporary visual and popular culture, the upcoming edition of The Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly delves into the connections between this legacy and some of the biggest popular... View full entry
Pacific Visions is unlike any other aquarium expansion project. We are taking a unique, unconventional approach in creating a space where the focus is on the one species that is affecting all others on Earth: humans. Pacific Visions is a place where scientists, policymakers, and the public can come together to explore solutions to create a better future for all.” — Urbanize LA
Since its debut on June 20, 1998, the Aquarium of the Pacific has been an iconic landmark and public attraction to the city of Long Beach. The 5-acre public aquarium attracts over 1.5 million visitors a year. The aquarium features over 11,000 animals with an emphasis on exhibits highlighting... View full entry
After facing an uncertain fate in recent years following the bankruptcy of the Johnson Publishing Company and the sale of the firm’s historic Chicago headquarters, the psychedelic Ebony test kitchen, where the magazine’s iconic A Date with a Dish recipes were developed and tested, has found a... View full entry
Curious about which top-notch architectural history publications to check out? Perhaps you'd like to look into the winning titles of the 2019 Society of Architectural Historians' Publication and Film and Video Awards. As its name states, the yearly Publication Awards honor the best published... View full entry
McDonald's, the American fast food chain central to debates on overconsumption and sustainability, has started a few notable initiatives overseas. Over the last few years, several of their restaurants in Sweden have recently installed beehives on their rooftops to accommodate the globally waning... View full entry
Born in Ensenada, photographer Livia Corona Benjamin depicts the social performance of architecture in her work. Focusing mainly on her native Mexico, her photos range from hypnotizing rows of seemingly vast housing developments to carefully framed group portraits of local residents. Recently... View full entry
Notre Dame is not stable and urgently needs reinforcing. [...]
The collapse of a part of the vaults has severely reduced the safety of its structural system, which, in the case of a Gothic cathedral, does not rely on the heavy mass of the walls, as in classical architecture, but on discharging weight through clustered columns, external flying buttresses and counter-supports—a structural “exoskeleton” that until now has been extremely effective and resilient.
— The Art Newspaper
A new assessment of the Gothic cathedral's structural system after the devastating April 15 fire shows that the stability has been severely weakened by various factors and warns that the walls could now fail to withstand strong wind gusts. The morning after the incident: Notre Dame's spire is gone... View full entry
What should we do with industrial sites after they have fulfilled their original purpose? Considering the fact that so many of the now disused sites are so close to city centers, the answer to this question can determine the quality of city life for many places around the world. Landschaftspark... View full entry
The City of Paris just announced the winner of its ambitious Site Tour Eiffel Competition: the team led by London-based landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman will be tasked to improve and reimagine the grounds around the city's most iconic landmark, just in time for the Paris 2024 Summer... View full entry
Tesla’s 2016 acquisition of SolarCity is looking worse and worse. And its $1 billion solar gigafactory in Buffalo, New York, which the state built, subsidized, and equipped for SolarCity, seems to be primarily operating as a Panasonic plant. [...] In the more than two years since Tesla acquired SolarCity, its overall solar installations have plummeted by more than 76%. — Technology Review
In 2016 Tesla purchased SolarCity for $2.6 billion. Much criticism and backlash had been pivoted towards Elon Musk's decision to acquire the company due to his own personal ties with the company and its co-founders. Although ambitious, much like most of Musk's ideas for an ideal world, the Solar... View full entry
An eclectic range of project types is represented in this year's RIBA London Awards which were just announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects. The 47 winning projects were selected from 83 shortlisted projects published in March and feature new work by some of the UK's heavy hitters... View full entry
One effort currently underway is Link Union Station, a $2.2-billion project that hopes to make the facility a hub connecting Metro Rail’s intercity subway and light rail lines to allow for a better long-term travel experience — and hopefully stem falling ridership. The project is slated for completion before the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028. — The Los Angeles Times
As Los Angeles gears up for a slew of global tourism events, including upcoming Super Bowl, World Cup, and Olympic happenings, the city's Union Station is receiving a flood of investment. Major upgrades include the restoration of historical elements of the complex, the reconfiguration of the... View full entry
Glass has always been an unlikely material for large buildings, because of how difficult it becomes to control temperature and glare indoors. In fact, the use of fully glazed exteriors only became possible with advances in air conditioning technology and access to cheap and abundant energy, which came about in the mid-20th century. And studies suggest that on average, carbon emissions from air conditioned offices are 60% higher than those from offices with natural or mechanical ventilation. — Fast Company
Philip Johnson, after building his own Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, had this bit of advice to offer others in the field: "Don't build a glass house if you're worried about saving money on heating." The advancement of modern architecture was predicated on the seemingly magical properties... View full entry
Seattle’s upzoning plan is set to take place throughout the city, but only 6 percent of single-family neighborhoods will be affected. These neighborhoods will be rezoned to allow for smaller, denser housing, while encouraging developers to keep existing structures and turn them into multifamily housing — like duplexes — in order to preserve a neighborhood’s aesthetic. — NBC News
Since 2010 Seattle's population has seen a hike of 16%, so have the rents and the property prices. And while real estate in the city is booming, little of the development is targeted towards the growing demand for affordable housing. Today 75% of Seattle's residential land is zoned for... View full entry
As part of the City of New York's efforts to provide more affordable housing to its residents, the Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC competition was launched by the NYC Department of Housing and Preservation (HPD) and the AIANY to solicit innovative architectural proposals for small-scale, urban... View full entry
