Over the past decade or so, bleacher stairs have become a ubiquitous marker of contemporary public architecture. It’s time for the trend to stop.
Its subsequent proliferation serves as a good example of how avant-garde design, or at least a consumerist version of it, filters down to the mainstream.
The broader point is that architects need to be more inventive as they plan new public spaces, and their patrons need to demand that those spaces are accessible for the entire population.
— The Dallas Morning News
The ubiquitous “bleacher stair” feature can be seen in designs for the Studio Museum of Harlem, Perez Art Museum Miami, and the new Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History (just by my count) and can be traced to Rem Koolhaas’ design for Prada’s NYC flagship in 2001, says... View full entry
Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) has announced architect, urban planner, and academic Jose Castillo as its next Department of Architecture Chair. Castillo, the co-founder of the Mexico City-based studio a|911, has taught previously at UPenn, Tulane... View full entry
University of Stuttgart professor Achim Menges has shared details of a new research-led observation tower project called Wangen Tower after its realization earlier this month at the regional garden showcase Landesgartenschau Wangen im Allgäu in southern Germany. The project is a collaboration... View full entry
The new AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) for April has reported a new score of 48.3, indicating a continued decrease in economic activity while posting an improvement over March’s previously reported total of 43.6. For the month, inquiries into new projects continued to increase... View full entry
The Marriott International company of Bethesda, Maryland, has been named as the National Building Museum’s Honor Award recipient for 2024. The iconic 97-year-old American chain that currently operates about 8,900 hotels internationally was recognized for its transformative and anchoring... View full entry
An international competition to design the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Belgium, has listed six teams of finalists after receiving over 50 entries for the newly expanded M HKA. The Flemish government is expected to announce a winner in early 2025. The shortlisted teams... View full entry
Renzo Piano Building Workshop is set to advance on its performing arts center design in Sarasota, Florida, after being named the winner of an international competition last June. The new design contract has been reported at $36.9 million. Construction will take approximately 60 months from the... View full entry
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)’s 2024 Award of Excellence winners have been presented following a three-month juried selection process that awarded winners in 20 categories.This year’s cohort is said to be evocative of the "paradigm shift in design and construction... View full entry
Many modern companies “have as many conference rooms as there are executives,” [Kay] Sargent said, and it’s become a “dirty little secret” that conference rooms are the new corner offices. [...] When a high-ranking executive parks themselves in a big conference room or spreads their stuff across the long table in the office coffee shop, no one is going to tell them to leave. — The Atlantic
The influence that Google exerted over office design in the 2000s has been credited with starting the movement toward a post-COVID reality in which the private spaces within offices now occupy only 45% of the total footprint. (H/t CoStar.com from January) Still, The Atlantic’s Michael Waters... View full entry
The UK's Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove has approved the planned demolition of the Museum of London building and Bastion House near the Barbican. The go-ahead makes way for the revised Sheppard Robson and Diller Scofidio + Renfro-led scheme that would deliver a new office... View full entry
The New York City Department of Design and Construction has issued two new contracts for what will become the first two facilities in the city's progressive borough-based jails system. The bids from Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp. for the $3.9 billion new Queens jail and Transformative Reform... View full entry
Look below for Archinect's latest curated selection of architecture and design firms currently hiring on Archinect Jobs. This week's featured employer highlight includes openings in Los Angeles, New York City, Boise, and Seattle. For even more opportunities, head over to the Archinect job board... View full entry
NEOM’s next satellite development has been announced as Jaumur, a seaside marina getaway on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf of Aqaba designed by the Australian-British firm bureau^proberts. Founder Liam Proberts and Partner Terry McQuillan appear in a marketing video that promotes the resort as a “place... View full entry
This month at New York's Guggenheim Museum, artist Jenny Holzer is having her landmark 1989 light projection restaged in the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building’s rotunda. The installation celebrates her innovative text-based art alongside pieces from the early 70s to today that... View full entry
A group of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia say they have discovered a means for protecting buildings from structural collapse. In a new set of building science experiments conducted in June 2023, they carefully studied animal neurobiology. El País tells us: “The team of... View full entry
