In this thoughtful ode to the unexpected charms of brutalism, Felix Salmon explores why the formerly nightmarish architectural style is experiencing a renaissance, or at least a renewed appreciation. Salmon's observation that ubiquitous, unimaginative glass towers have replaced brutalism as the... View full entry
London mayor Sadiq Khan is to launch the UK’s most comprehensive inquiry into the impact of foreign investment flooding London’s housing market, amid growing fears about the scale of gentrification and spiralling housing costs in the capital.
Khan said there are “real concerns” about the surge in the number of homes being bought by overseas investors, adding that the inquiry would map the scale of the problem for the first time.
— the Guardian
In related news:As a new class of super rich investors displace the traditional elite, average Londoners are pushed further and further outside the city limitsOvercrowding on London's canalsTo live in London you can't be a LondonerLondon fails to achieve any targets for affordable housing View full entry
the world’s prisons are home to an estimated 10 million people globally and this number is rising. The world’s prison population has gone up 10% since 2004, and in some countries, such as Indonesia, the increase has been as high as 183% [...]
Architecture sends a silent message to everyone walking into any place. It tells you what to expect and where the limits of behaviour are. Prisons are the same.
— the Guardian
In my view, design is crucial to creating an environment in which prisoners can live and not become institutionalised. This means providing spaces for staying in contact with families, work, education, and playing sport.For more on carceral architectures, follow these links:Rikers Island is an... View full entry
Studio Gang has worked with the museum before, on its 2003 Masonry Variations exhibition and as a part of the 2009 Transforming Skylines and Communities series. While designs for the installation won't be fleshed out until early 2017, it will most likely follow in the playful, accessible style... View full entry
The Obama administration Monday is calling on cities and counties to rethink their zoning laws, saying that antiquated rules on construction, housing and land use are contributing to high rents and income inequality, and dragging down the U.S. economy as a whole [...]
The White House published a “toolkit” of economic evidence and policy fixes to help local political leaders fight back against the NIMBYs that tend to hold sway over municipal zoning meetings.
— Politico
In related news:Take a VR tour of Yosemite National Park with President ObamaObama chooses Jackson Park as the site for his Presidential CenterStonewall Inn formally declared as national monumentTod Williams Billie Tsien Architects selected to design the Obama Presidential Center View full entry
Fungal biofilm and water sealant failure have added a black patina to the Salk Institute's iconic teak paneling, making the material vulnerable to decay. In order to save what is considered to be one of the world's finest architectural projects (and coolest structural alignment of the sunset save... View full entry
According to this Fortune article, it's estimated that the construction industry wastes billions of dollars annually in poorly organized and distributed materials, a practice that could be eliminated with omnipresent flying drones. The trick is to create software that can process what the drones... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BAU 2017. On about 185,000 m2 of exhibition space, BAU will be presenting a display of architecture, materials and systems for commercial and residential construction and interior design, for both new-build and R&M projects. This next edition of the show, which... View full entry
It’s going to be “yuge”. It’s an inflated descriptor thrown around a lot these days, but architects have always been trained to think big, whether laying out bathroom plumbing or master planning cities. Sometimes those ideas get built; sometimes others build on those ideas. This October on... View full entry
Article 50 still hasn’t been triggered, but the fallout from Brexit is already impacting the UK and its economy. And, as many predicted, architecture isn’t immune to its effects. In one of the first major post-referendum announcements pertaining to the discipline, engineering giant Arup has... View full entry
This week, plunge yourself into the art world with opening shows, private views and controversial subjects all on offer in London. Works on display throughout the exhibitions seek to challenge the viewer, and in the case of Guerrilla Girls, bring about big, tangible change through... View full entry
A year ago, former England captain Rio Ferdinand, West Ham United skipper Mark Noble and ex-Brighton striker Bobby Zamora [unveiled] their Legacy Foundation – a regeneration charity with a plan to build a series of social and privately rentable housing schemes, backed by private investors.
The stars (all three of whom have played for West Ham) are coming back to present their first project, worth £400m, to build 1,300 homes on a 22-hectare site in a run-down area in Houghton Regis near Luton.
— the Guardian
For more on housing-related issues in the UK, follow these links:As a new class of super rich investors displace the traditional elite, average Londoners are pushed further and further outside the city limitsAlmost half of Londoners support limits on building heightBrexit will put even more strain... View full entry
This post is brought to you by GKD Metal Fabrics. White GKD metal fabric plays a disappearing act on the interior of a commercial office building in Toronto, Canada. With sharp geometric lines and vibrant white walls set against concrete floors and metal railings, a few red bucket chairs starkly... View full entry
Protesters gathered in Sydney’s historic Rocks district on Saturday to rally against the New South Wales government’s plans to sell off the Sirius building – which contains 79 social housing tenants – to developers for more than $100m. The 1970s Brutalist building was nominated for heritage listing by the NSW National Trust in 2014 but the government has refused to grant it, saying the proceeds from the sale are needed to build more public housing elsewhere in Sydney — The Guardian
Quartz also reported that Australia’s largest construction union Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and the Unions NSW have called their members to refuse any participation in demolition work of the structure. “The Sirius building is not only an important piece of... View full entry
A recreation of Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph was unveiled in New York on Monday, almost a year after Islamic State militants destroyed the original structure.
The 1,800-year-old Roman arch was blown up by the extremist group last October, but a team of archeologists at Oxford University’s Institute for Digital archeology (IDA) set about recreating it, in an act of resistance to Isis’s rampant acts of cultural destruction in Iraq and Syria.
— the Guardian
The recreation, which is two-thirds the size of the original, was constructed with 3D printing technology using Egyptian marble. Historically, the arch marked the entrance to the Temple of Baal, which was later converted into a church and then a mosque.The recreated arch was displayed last spring... View full entry
