Accessibility looks like different things to different people. When architects design buildings there are parameters that must be met in order to meet standard building codes. With the passing of the Americans with Disability Act, building regulations were placed to ensure that the design process... View full entry
The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has opened the world's first-ever underwater hotel residence.
More than just a room or a suite (this is the Maldives, after all, so luxury is the name of the game), the two-story villa is set more than 16 feet below the Indian Ocean. Its name is "Muraka," which means "coral" in the Maldives' local language Dhivehi.
— CNN Travel
Image: Conrad Maldives Rangali IslandWith the cold and gloomy season quickly approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, many wish to escape to warmer, balmier settings. If the idea of sleeping under the water sounds like your kinda thing and a sweet $50,000 a night isn't too much of an obstacle, then... View full entry
After receiving bids from twelve groups that included some of the planet’s top architectural talent, Chicago has narrowed its search down to five teams hoping to design a $8.5 billion terminal expansion of O’Hare International Airport. — Curbed Chicago
The list of five finalist teams includes some of the big-name bidders that responded to Chicago's O’Hare 21 Terminal Expansion Project RFP back in September: Fentress-EXP-Brook-Garza Joint Venture Partners Foster Epstein Moreno JV Joint Venture Partners Santiago Calatrava LLC Skidmore, Owings... View full entry
Now, his first Chicago skyscraper, Streeterville’s One Bennett Park, is nearing completion. [...]
“It has a very special site,” he said. “It will be a building that is memorable, I hope. I think it has already made an impression on the skyline. I would describe it as a building that has roots in the skyscrapers of New York in the 1920s and ‘30s, which people generally call Art Deco, but maybe that’s a kind of sloppy term.”
— WTTW
"There are a lot of architects who seem intent on entertaining other architects," Stern says in his WTTW interview. "I would like the respect of my peers, but I would like the public to embrace my buildings." Image: Robert A.M. Stern Architects Image: Robert A.M. Stern Architects View full entry
The New York Wheel was heralded as Staten Island’s boldest project [...]
And then on October 23, after over five years in the pipeline and $400 million in private investment, the New York Wheel was pronounced dead. The results of the developers’ divisive, much-litigated efforts are a concrete plinth and completed parking garage.
— Curbed NY
Curbed New York's Zoe Rosenberg examines what the future may hold for Staten Island’s ambitious North Shore revitalization after the developers last month pulled the plug on the 630-foot main attraction, the New York Wheel.Image: S9 Architecture / Perkins Eastman View full entry
He imagines a sort of experimental community spread over about a hundred square miles, where houses, schools, commercial districts and production studios will be built. The centerpiece of this giant project will be the blockchain, a new kind of database that was introduced by Bitcoin. — The New York Times
Jeffrey Berns, who owns the cryptocurrency company Blockchains L.L.C., has bought 68,000 acres of land in Nevada that he hopes to transform into a community based around blockchain technology. His utopian vision, which would be the first 'smart city' based on the technology, involves the creation... View full entry
With a $630-million construction loan in hand, Related Cos. will begin site preparation this month for The Grand, a long-awaited Frank Gehry-designed tower complex in Downtown Los Angeles.
The approximately $1-billion development, slated to replace a parking structure across the street from Walt Disney Concert Hall, was conceived more than a decade ago as a public-private partnership between Related and various city and county agencies.
— urbanize.LA
Image: Gehry Partners/Related Cos.About a decade delayed, the Frank Gehry-designed The Grand development (formerly known as Grand Avenue Project) will finally start coming to life atop Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles. Pre-construction work is scheduled to commence this month on the plot... View full entry
The mystery of how, exactly, the pyramids were built may have come a step closer to being unravelled after a team of archaeologists made a chance discovery in an ancient Egyptian quarry.
Scientists researching ancient inscriptions happened upon a ramp with stairways and a series of what they believe to be postholes, which suggest that the job of hauling into place the huge blocks of stone used to build the monuments may have been completed more quickly than previously thought.
— The Guardian
The theory of ancient Egyptians using ramps to move the enormous stone blocks to build the Great Pyramids of Giza some 4,500 years ago has been around for a while, but this new discovery suggests the possibility of a significantly steeper ramp angle and shorter construction period than commonly... View full entry
I repeat: The most influential residential architect of the 20th century — and unless you are a longtime reader of this blog (and why aren’t you, pray tell?) you probably never heard of him...Bottom line: Royal Barry Wills’ ethic dominated the housing landscape then — and I’d say, even now. — Retro Renovation
Since at least 2008, Pam Kueber (of the The Mid-Century Modest Manifesto) has been singing the praises of American architect Royal Barry Wills. First-time learning his name, already a fan, what is your take? View full entry
JMF Development Co. [...] hopes to construct a 53-story tower on the vacant, L-shaped lot which wraps the historic structure. [...]
Arquitectonica is designing the proposed 784-foot-tall glass-and-steel tower, which is highlighted by a collection of cantilevered, glass-bottom pools for residents on the building's upper levels. While some of the protrusions would extend over the Pershing Square Building, none would hover above the public right-of-way.
— Urbanize LA
Image: JMF Development Co., via urbanize.la.A rather dramatic example of the stacked-boxes scheme might go up at 5th and Hill, near Pershing Square, in Downtown Los Angeles soon. Designed by Arquitectonica, JMF Development Co. proposes the 53-story tower with its fiercely... View full entry
Hawaii's Supreme Court has sided with scientists in a battle to build one of the world's largest telescopes, rejecting efforts by native Hawaiians to block its construction atop what some consider a sacred volcano.
In 2015, a construction permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, to be built on Mauna Kea, was invalidated amid protests and court appeals, claiming the dormant volcano is sacred land that would be violated in the building process.
— NPR
The embattled TMT astronomical observatory project on Mauna Kea previously in the Archinect news: Hawaii's Thirty Meter Telescope could be moved to the Canary IslandsHawaii protesters block construction of giant telescope on sacred mountain Mauna KeaThe $1.5B 30m telescope (TMT) will be the... View full entry
This week we’re sharing my conversation with Sou Fujimoto, recorded immediately before his new show opened to the press at Japan House in Hollywood last Friday. The show, titled “FUTURES OF THE FUTURE”, brings together large scale renderings and photographs, along with over 100 models... View full entry
Kungsträdgården is the most important park in Sweden, [...] It is the thread that pulls together the historical power of the monarchy with the commercial blocks of Hamngatan and the working-class districts of Södermalm. This is very important for democracy because it has to do with power, symbolically and spatially.
Stockholm, Sweden's beloved capitol is home to stunning landscapes that keep residence and visitors mesmerized. Its cobblestoned streets are lined with amazingly preserved buildings, beautiful open water views, and public spaces. Nestled in the heart of Stockholm is Kungsträdgården, one of the... View full entry
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon has said he wants to build a new world-class headquarters for the 21st century. Now he’s hiring the architect behind Apple Inc.’s futuristic offices to design the new Park Avenue tower.
Foster + Partners will serve as the lead architect on the project[...]. It also designed 425 Park Ave., under construction a few blocks to the north. The bank didn’t disclose details of the design.
— Bloomberg
Banking giant JPMorgan Chase initially floated plans to demolish its current New York City home at 270 Park Avenue back in February, and this week's selection of Norman Foster as the design architect of the replacement building appears to seal the fate of the old tower. Completed in 1961 and... View full entry
Mitsui Fudosan has built a 51-story office building in New York, demonstrating Japanese developers' strong appetite for overseas investment as their home market shrinks.
The company announced Friday that it has completed 55 Hudson Yards in the heart of Manhattan. Next door, construction continues on another 58-story office development at 50 Hudson Yards.
— Nikkei Asian Review
55 Hudson Yards, facade details. Photo: ACME/Flickr.The 51-story office tower 55 Hudson Yards (originally known as One Hudson Yards) has recently wrapped up construction. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, the high-rise stands 780 feet tall and offers a... View full entry
