President Obama gave his final State of the Union speech last night, which prompted the AIA to issue a statement outlining policies it feels President Obama and Republicans in Congress should enact this year in order to bolster the health of the architectural profession. These include: •... View full entry
This case study looks at the origins of, and factors that led to, the “death” of the best-known humanitarian architecture organization in the world.
However, it will also reveal that AFH is regenerating via its worldwide network of chapters, which it had begun developing around 2004, and which gathered more formally under the name Architecture for Humanity Chapter Network upon AFH’s closure.
— nonprofitquarterly.org
To get caught up on Architecture for Humanity's history as a non-profit:Architecture for Humanity begins crowdsourced rebranding campaignArchitecture for Humanity to file for bankruptcyArchitecture for Humanity to shut downCameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, co-founders of Architecture for Humanity... View full entry
As my own contribution to Archinect’s 2015 year in review, I have gathered a sampling of the News, Blog posts, Discussions and Features from last year (or even further) that touch on key themes of 2015, look to projects/awards/openings coming in 2016 or in some-way reference either 2015 or... View full entry
L.A. has always been a place of experimentation, but now it appears to be in an architectural arms race, a competition to build the tallest, shiniest, and weirdest buildings. Adding to some Angelenos’ trepidation is how many of the projects popping up around the city are museums—built to last for 40 years or more, which is an eternity in a city known for knocking things down. — LA Magazine
Related:Is Zumthor's inkblot the right size for LACMA's art?Urban blight: a review of the Petersen Automotive MuseumThe Broad Museum opens its doors for a look beyond the veilTurn the 2 into housing (or a park or a solar array): Christopher Hawthorne's pitch for one of LA's most awkward freeways View full entry
The renovation has pared Kahn's spaces down to their essence, restoring a Zenlike calm, and revealing the muscular concrete structure that made the design such a revelation in the early 1960s, when International Style glass towers were all the rage. As Kahn, who was known for his mystical pronouncements, might say, Richards has become the building it always wanted to be. — philly.com
The renovation was led by Penn's university architect, David Hollenberg, who oversaw a host of architects working on the complex's four towers, including: EYP, Urban Engineers, Keast & Hood, Bruce Brooks & Assoc., and Atkin Olshin Schade. Hollenberg also suggested Penn nominate the... View full entry
Their biggest challenge was securing the house’s foundation....Other work included stabilizing the walls by injecting adhesive between the lath and plaster with a veterinarian’s needle and transforming a small bathroom into an elevator shaft — NYT
Jori Finkel profiles Carlie Wilmans founder of 500 Capp Street Foundation. The foundation was established to stabilize and preserve 500 Capp Street (exterior, interior, site-specific installations) in San Francisco, which was the longtime home and studio of the Conceptual artist David Ireland... View full entry
It is fervently hoped that when the 45th president takes the oath of office outside the Capitol on 20 January 2017, a $60m project to restore the building’s august cast-iron dome will have been completed. [...]
“There’s never been a major renovation of the dome. It’s important work and was long overdue. It apparently has a thousand cracks and pieces have been falling off for years but, once this work is done, it should be good for another 150 years.
— theguardian.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:U.S. Capitol building to receive much-needed faceliftTurns out the Washington Monument is shorter than we thoughtHistory breaks down the Lincoln Memorial’s bizarre rejected designs View full entry
Just two days after images of a giant gold-colored statue of Mao in the bare fields of Henan Province spread across the Internet, the statue was gone — torn down apparently on the orders of embarrassed local officials. [...]
According to villagers and reports on online chat sites, the statue was the idea of a local businessman, Sun Qingxin ... “He is crazy about Mao,” said a villager who identified himself as Mr. Wang, a potato farmer. “His factory is full of Maos.”
— nytimes.com
More news from China:China to sustainably build 10 New York City's worth of space in the next decadeChina hopes to improve its cities with newly released urban planning visionChina relaxes restrictions on who gets perks of urban public servicesConstruction stalled on 'world's tallest building', so... View full entry
This post is brought to you by PPI. In 2016, NCARB announced a change to the ARE exam format. The goal is to align the ARE with current practice management, project management, and project design activities in the architecture profession.The new exam will be launched late 2016, but you have will... View full entry
The new study provides one of the strongest cases yet that from the amount of concrete mankind uses in building to the amount of plastic rubbish dumped in the oceans, Earth has entered a new geological epoch.
“We could be looking here at a stepchange from one world to another that justifies being called an epoch,” said Dr Colin Waters, principal geologist at the British Geological Survey and an author on the study published in Science on Thursday.
— theguardian.com
More on the dawning Anthropocene:Archinect's Lexicon: "Anthropocene"Ways of Seeing in the Anthropocene: Review of "The Geological Imagination" and "The Underdome Guide to Energy Reform"Architecture of the Anthropocene, Pt. 3: Getting Lost in the OzoneArchitecture of the Anthropocene, Pt... View full entry
Next Wednesday, January 13, the 2016 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize will be announced. The winner will receive the Pritzker's bronze medal, $100,000, and an avalanche of "what does this mean for architecture" media attention. Check back here for the winner announcement first thing... View full entry
Mall of America’s ability to so zealously suppress the December 23 [Black Lives Matter] protest there highlights how, in a nation where more and more public life takes place in privatized spaces, the ability to exercise First Amendment rights has become increasingly contingent...
Legal arguments that free political speech should be allowed at malls center around the idea that the shopping center has replaced the town square as a place where opinions can be heard and exchanged.
— the Intercept
Related:Taking a stand against privately-owned public spacesFor in that death of malls, what dreams may come? Archinect Sessions #32, featuring special guest co-host, Nam Henderson!NY Mayor de Blasio's Times Square overhaul runs into massive opposition View full entry
Whereas residents were once all long-term tenants, in the 35 years since Margaret Thatcher encouraged people to buy – and therefore sell – their council flats and houses, the population of places like this has become ever more transient.
In particular, homes that were once council properties are now often owned by buy-to-let landlords who rent them out on a short-term basis.
— The Guardian
The second-biggest Italian city is offering a monthly payment of 350 euros ($376) to every resident willing to host a refugee, or an asylum seeker, in their home.
The city of Milan announced Monday with a post on its Facebook page that soon local residents will be paid for giving shelter to one or more refugees.
— Vice
Related:Architectures of the DisasterHow Architects Can Help Nepal (And Learn From Past Disastrous Mistakes/Successes)Ai Weiwei documents life in Greek refugee camp on social mediaThe vast majority of Syrian refugees are seeking refuge in cities, not campsViennese student dorms may Passively House... View full entry
Architect, artist, and experimental preservationist Jorge Otero-Pailos has created scents for Philip Johnson's Glass House, removed centuries of dust from the inside of Trajan's Column with latex, and is the newly appointed director of the Historic Preservation program at Columbia University's... View full entry
