The 16,000 people who work in and visit Willis Tower each day could soon be spending less time on their elevator rides in Chicago's tallest building.
A five-year project to upgrade the tower's 83 elevator shafts -- and replace 97 passenger cabs, as some shafts have two-level elevators -- will start in June, according to the building's owner, Blackstone Group's Equity Office, and elevator firm Otis.
— Chicago Tribune
This major upgrade is expected to significantly reduce trip times as well as energy consumption (by as much as 30-35%), according to Equity Office and Otis. The 110-story Willis Tower—once ranked as the world's tallest building for nearly 25 years—hasn't undergone such an enormous overhaul... View full entry
Through a plethora of over-designed shelters, interventions, and temporary housing prototypes, professional architecture has attempted to pick up on issues of global mass displacement. Despite the endless stream of projects of this nature, little has changed and cots in gymnasiums remain the... View full entry
The State of Illinois is celebrating its 200th birthday this year, and architects from all corners of the Windy State have contributed noteworthy examples of the built environment in honor of the Bicentennial. An AIA Illinois selection committee picked the final list of 200 Great Places, all of... View full entry
I think we haven’t thought through the challenge of technology for city mobility. We are stuck with some 120-year-old ideas that the industry is desperately holding on to. I tell students: Whenever you hear the word “smart,” beware, because that is somebody who wants to sell as many millions as possible of some new gimmick. And he is not necessarily giving you a better quality of life. — CityLab
Annette Becker and Lessano Negussie, curators of the new exhibition RIDE A BIKE! Reclaim the City at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt, Germany, interviewed the 81-year-old 'people-friendly city' evangelist for the show's accompanying book. View full entry
Kanye West's flirt with the architecture profession appears to take on a more 'It's complicated' kind of status—if you're willing to lend enough credibility to his tweet from yesterday, announcing "we’re starting a Yeezy architecture arm called Yeezy home. We’re looking for architects and... View full entry
In some places, the tower block has never faded from view. The history of mass housing in eastern Europe is complex and uncomfortable. Yet what’s striking is how prominently the tower block features in the work of contemporary photographers from that territory. These artists have every reason to turn their backs on such buildings. They’re ugly and overbearing, not to say reminiscent of an authoritarian past. But the mass housing block is a recurring presence in their work. — Calvert Journal
Writer and critic Ekow Eshun provides a beautiful overview of the tower block as a recurring architectural, social, and aesthetic theme in the works of post-Soviet-era photographers in Russia, Serbia, the Baltic states, and throughout Eastern Europe. "However ugly and monolithic such buildings... View full entry
Mid- or second-tier cities, loosely defined as those under a million people that aren’t regional powerhouses like Austin or Seattle, are increasingly seen as not just places to find a lower cost of living, easier commute, and closer connections with family, but also a more approachable, neighborhood-oriented version of the urban lifestyle that sent many to the larger cities in the first place. — curbed.com
Census data shows that smaller metros are seeing more migration from millennials while larger cities are experiencing slower growth. These smaller cities have been attracting new growth in part due to investing in green spaces and parks, upswings in local tech hubs, and downtown redevelopment. View full entry
Next fall, Indiana University announced Monday, the building will house the university’s new master of architecture program, serving as an outpost of the flagship Bloomington campus 36 miles to the west. But this will be no ordinary outpost.
Columbus, a small-town architectural mecca, boasts buildings by such renowned architects as Eliel and Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Chicago’s Harry Weese.
— Chicago Tribune
Blair Kamin tells the story of the former The Republic newspaper building—a modernist gem designed by SOM partner Myron Goldsmith and opened in 1971—which will soon find a second life as Indiana University's new architecture graduate program studio in Columbus, Indiana. View full entry
Hot-market cities grappling with a dearth of housing, like those along the coast of California, are increasingly looking at accessory dwelling units (ADUs)—commonly known as "granny flats—to help abate the statewide shortage. In 2016, California passed three laws aimed at facilitating in-law... View full entry
As seas rise and coasts wash away, who owns the land that goes underwater? Versions of that debate are taking place in courtrooms, legislatures, and government offices, raising the question of whether and when climate change justifies seizing private property. The stakes are enormous, affecting not just ownership of offshore mineral and fishing rights but also potentially trillions of dollars of coastal real estate. — bloomberg.com
Climate change has left many rules governing real estate ownership murky. As sea levels rise this especially affects coastal property and laws hinging on high-tide lines. View full entry
Nearly two months after a brand-new South Florida bridge collapsed onto a busy roadway — killing six people — the Florida Department of Transportation is still refusing to release documents that could shed light on the tragic accident.
Now, the Miami Herald is taking the state to court. On Wednesday, the Herald filed suit against FDOT in Tallahassee's Leon County Circuit Court to compel the release of emails, meeting minutes and other records relating to the bridge's design and construction.
— miamiherald.com
Just days before the FIU bridge collapsed, cracks had been observed on the structure. A meeting was held by the university and the FDOT the morning of the collapse on whether these cracks were a safety risk. The Miami Herald requested records from that meeting and other documents, which have been... View full entry
A luxury Maldives resort is about to take the sleeping under-the-sea phenomenon to a whole new level.
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is building a $15 million two-story hotel villa, part of which will sit 16.4 feet below the surface of the Indian Ocean.
The property, believed to be the world's first undersea residence, is under construction in the South Asian island country and is due to be completed in November.
— CNN Travel
Conrad Maldives Rangali IslandIf you're traveling to the Maldives and just can't get enough of that crystal clear water, then you can soon even sleep beneath the Indian Ocean (and watch the fishies watching you): Conrad Hotels & Resorts, part of the Hilton group, announced plans for the, what... View full entry
As one of the collateral events to the 2018 Venice Biennale, the Young Talent Architecture Award exhibition will feature the graduation projects of the competition's four winners (who will be announced in June) and 12 finalists. Organized by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe with the support of... View full entry
In the dense forest of Harestua, located 45 kilometers north of Oslo, Norway, the familiar firm Snøhetta has designed the expansion for the country's biggest astronomical facility. Originally built for the total solar eclipse in 1954, the Solobservatoriet is the largest solar observatory north... View full entry
OMA’s Blox project stacks a museum, offices, gym, restaurant and housing in a provocative attempt to condense the thrilling energy of a city into a single structure – but the result is a gloomy glass monolith [...]
It is OMA’s first ever playground, and it doesn’t look as if having fun comes naturally.
— The Guardian
Photo: Rasmus Hjortshøj – COASTThe Guardian architecture critic, Oliver Wainwright, reviews OMA's new 'Blox' building in Copenhagen, and it's easy to see that he isn't a fan. Like at all. "From the outside, it doesn’t look promising. Far from suggesting unpredictable intrigue, the building... View full entry
