Six trustees, among them the prominent designer David Rockwell, have resigned from the board of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to protest the removal of the museum’s director, Caroline Baumann, following an investigation into issues including her 2018 wedding.
Ms. Baumann was forced to resign on Feb. 7 after an investigation by the Smithsonian’s inspector general into how Ms. Baumann procured her dress and the venue for the ceremony.
— The New York Times
In a resignation letter protesting the ouster of former Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum director Caroline Baumann for suspected improprieties involving her purchase of a bargain designer wedding dress, architect David Rockwell of Rockwell Group writes, "We all serve on the board because... View full entry
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has struck a deal with five different private developers that will hand over the management and repair duties for seven public housing complexes to the selected companies in exchange for $1.5 billion in repairs. The deal will impact 5,908 housing units... View full entry
The Alexis Dornier-designed Bali-based Treetop Boutique Hotel is located in a suburb of Ubud on the Indonesian island of Bali. Alexis Dornier is a local architecture studio and used this project as a means to experiment with ways to lift structures off of the ground in an effort to have a less... View full entry
In 1977, the movie house, Novorossiysk, was constructed. During the 80's cinema clubs, lectures, and film festivals used the site to meet and showcase film. Here Muscovites (Moscow residents) had the opportunity to watch the films of Takeshi Kitano, Michael Haneke, Lars von Trier, and other... View full entry
In an effort to expand cultural competency, Murphy Burnham & Buttrick (MBB) Architects has instituted its own private travel grant. Established in 2016, the Harold Buttrick Travel Grant offers one employee five days of paid leave and paid travel-related expenses to "[broaden] his or her... View full entry
This Olson Kundig-designed Hollywood Hills West retreat, called "Collywood," sits just over the Sunset Strip and overlooks Los Angeles, offering panoramic views stretching from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. A seamless connection between the interior and exterior of the home was... View full entry
Developers SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America may be forced, under a recent New York State Supreme Court ruling, to tear down the top 20 stories of a nearly-completed 56-story luxury residential skyscraper in New York City designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. The New... View full entry
Residential lockdowns of varying strictness — from checkpoints at building entrances to hard limits on going outdoors — now cover at least 760 million people in China, or more than half the country’s population, according to a New York Times analysis of government announcements in provinces and major cities. Many of these people live far from the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first reported and which the government sealed off last month. — The New York Times
The New York Times presents an eye-opening report detailing the varying degrees to which hundreds of millions of people in China are currently under some form of residential lockdown as the country attempts to stop the spread of the deadly SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Chinese authorities have... View full entry
As part of Archinect's month-long Spotlight on Miami, we have selected ten of our favorite architectural projects uploaded to Firm profiles of practices based in Miami. Looking for architectural jobs in the region? Check out these firms that are currently hiring in the city and catch up also with... View full entry
Friday, the boring machine broke through the last bit of a tunnel under the Las Vegas Convention Center. This completes the first section of drilling for the project. It’s part of the master plan to move people quickly around the facility. The convention center is in the process of expanding by 1.4 million square feet. That will bring the total convention space to 4.6 million in exhibition space. — KTNV Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) announced today that excavation is complete for the first of The Boring Company's tunnels for the Vegas Loop that will be located beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center. As previously reported on Archinect, The Boring Company projects... View full entry
A two-stage competition was launched last October for the new National Railway Museum Central Hall that will be part of York Central, a 45-hectare redevelopment project in the UK that will also include business and residential neighborhoods. The new 4,500-square-meter Central Hall will bridge... View full entry
Private car travel will decline in the world's largest cities by 10% over the next decade, according to a study from research consultancy firm Kantar, revealed this week at the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum.
Based on the survey, Kantar predicts greener means of transport will represent nearly half (50%) of all trips taken in cities in 2030, with cycling to increase globally by 18%, walking to increase by 15% and public transit use to increase by 6%.
— Smart Cities Dive
According to Smart Cities Dive, the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum surveyed 20,000 city dwellers across 31 cities to better understand how their preferred methods of travel might change over the next decade. The10 cities that will see the biggest change in green transport are Manchester... View full entry
Architect and author Francis D.K. Ching is among this year's speakers, along with blacksmith Matt Jenkins of Cloverdale Forge; Duluth installation artist Kathy McTavish; escape room designers and engineers Jamie Fassett-Carman and Mark Larson of Trapped Puzzle Rooms; 3-D printer and researcher Kevin Johnson; and chef Lucia Watson. — Duluth News Tribune
For the 32nd annual Lake Superior Design Retreat, organized by AIA Minnesota, architects and those interested in design come together to explore multidisciplinary aspects of design. In the spirit of the conference, this year's speakers cover a wide range of crafts and disciplines, one of which... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2020 A new school term means it's time for Archinect's latest edition of Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back... View full entry
Baumann was forced to resign as director of the Cooper Hewitt [...] following an investigation by the Smithsonian’s inspector general into potential problems regarding the procurement of [a wedding] dress and the wedding space.
Her resignation was made public on Feb. 7, without explanation [...]. Two people with knowledge of the Smithsonian’s decision making [...]said that the investigation had turned up evidence of an appearance of a conflict of interest.
— The New York Times
Robin Pogrebin of The New York Times delves into the circumstances surrounding the abrupt resignation of Caroline Baumann, the director of the Cooper Hewit Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. The museum is partially funded by the federal government and for that reason is... View full entry
