A surge of tall buildings, the vast majority of them housing rental apartments, is creating a densely populated, urban core [...] the Super Loop is patently un-super in at least one respect: It lacks a new version of the technological and aesthetic innovations that made Chicago's reputation as the cradle of modern architecture. As Mayor Rahm Emanuel prepares to host the second edition of a global architecture biennial [...], most of the new high-rises are based on tired commercial formulas. — Chicago Tribune
Chicago's Super Loop is gentrifying and becoming denser as apartment buildings are multiplying and younger generations are moving in. But, most of the new apartments in these high rises are quickly built concrete boxes with glass balconies. The ordinary character of new construction in Chicago's... View full entry
A few months after winning the inaugural Soane Medal, Spanish architect Rafael Moneo was named the architecture medalist for the Japan Art Association's 2017 Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award. Comparable to the Nobel Peace Prize in prestige, the... View full entry
The Abu Dhabi-owned developer won planning approval for the 268-home mixed-use redevelopment of the Metropolitan Police’s HQ site in April 2016....Since then developer BL Developments has sought to increase the total number of homes by 27, from 268 to 295, with no increase in the number of affordable units or payment in lieu, meaning the level of affordable housing fell further still to only 3%. — Construction Enquirer
BL Developments, who bought the site back in 2014 for £370m, had submitted an initial proposal to transform the former Metropolitan Police headquarters into a mixed-use scheme. The plans, which involved tearing down three existing buildings to clear the way for six residential-led buildings... View full entry
By: Holly Williams Leppo, AIA, NCIDQ-certified, LEED, AP This post is brought to you by PPI. NCARB’s Architectural Experience Program (AXP) requires candidates for licensure to document 3,740 hours of work experience, allocated among six practice areas that correspond with the divisions of ARE... View full entry
No less expressive is the building itself, with both modern and traditional Moroccan influences (locally-sourced terrazzo, red brick latticework, bush hammered concrete) and a curved facade that mimics the folds of fabric... — NYT
Jeanine Celeste Pang traveled to Marrakesh, for a preview of a new museum honoring Yves Saint Laurent. The new, 43,000-square-foot building, is designed by the Paris-based firm Studio KO. The project will open in October. View full entry
This week sees the start of the London Design Festival, a celebration of the best design products London has to offer. Before this opens on Friday, be sure to visit some of this summers best exhibitions and installations before they close; Breathing Colour and the Serpentine Pavilion... View full entry
“Whether there is or is not a Northwest regional style of architecture is debatable,” said John Yeon in 1986, “but what is certain is that lot of people want to think there is.” — Places Journal
In "A Fortuitous Shadow," Keith Eggener is inspired by the Portland Art Museum's recent exhibition on John Yeon's life and legacy to explore the concept of regionalism in architecture, beginning with the doubts expressed by the architect long associated with Pacific Northwest regional modernism. View full entry
The Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, at the University of Michigan, opened on September 8th with a new building designed by Preston Scott Cohen. The A. Alfred Taubman Wing will offer an additional 36,000 square feet of studio and common spaces for reviews, conferences and... View full entry
In other ways — in almost every other way — Wong’s career was a study in complexity. Political and ethnic complexity, mostly. And the complicated question of credit in architecture: Who gets it, who doesn’t and who has the authority to hand it out. [...] If not for the persistence of that narrative, Gin Wong’s contribution to postwar L.A. would be far better understood. It’s that simple. — Christopher Hawthorne, LA Times
In a recent column, Christopher Hawthorne highlights the quiet legacy of architect Gin Wong, who passed away September 1 at the age of 94. Wong worked as director of design for William Pereira in the 1960s before opening his own firm in 1973. Some of his projects include LAX's original design in... View full entry
Construction began this summer on a public mountain town that will straddle a 10,000-acre site between three skiing bowls. In 2013, Powder Mountain was purchased by Summit, a company—or, perhaps more accurately, a collective—founded in 2008 by five 20-something friends who want to “catalyze entrepreneurship” and “create global change.” — The Atlantic
The company plans to build 500 single-family houses along with a village for amenities and a place to house the organization's non-profit arm. The founders hope that the skiing mecca—an hour's drive north of Salt Lake—will become a year-round community for innovators and other creatives "to... View full entry
Regarded for her poetic approaches to architecture, French architect Manuelle Gautrand was recently named the 2017 laureate of the European Prize for Architecture. Awarded jointly by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum... View full entry
Amazon has set off a scrum among cities that are hoping to land the company’s second headquarters — with the winner getting the prize of a $5 billion investment and 50,000 new jobs over the next two decades.
(Denver's) lifestyle and affordability, coupled with the supply of tech talent from nearby universities, has already helped build a thriving start-up scene in Denver and Boulder, 40 minutes away.
— The New York Times
The New York Times suggests Denver for Amazon new headquarters as it offers a large and growing labour pool, access to universities, high quality of life and enough space to build eight million square feet of office space. If Amazon was to follow the New York Times advice it could drastically... View full entry
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... View full entry
The wildly swinging booms of three cranes at under-construction residential buildings in South Florida bent and collapsed in Hurricane Irma’s heavy winds Sunday. [...]
The cranes are a symbol of the luxury real estate development that drives South Florida’s economy, attracting millions of dollars in foreign investment, even as home prices soar out of reach for locals. The construction industry has fought against stricter regulation of the towering cranes.
— Miami Herald
While the whole extent of destruction that Hurricane Irma caused throughout Florida, Georgia, and various islands of the northern Caribbean in the past few days is still not entirely clear, the strength of the storm can be adumbrated by the three construction cranes that collapsed in the greater... View full entry
Tel Aviv has the largest concentration of buildings in the Bauhaus/International Style of any city in the world. With a collection of over 4,000 buildings covering almost one and a half square miles, the White City, as it is called, was largely created in the 1930s by a group of 200 German Jewish... View full entry
