The Department for Transport is refusing to release an internal report on the cancelled Garden Bridge project, claiming this would prejudice the commercial interests of the trust that developed it, now in liquidation.
The Garden Bridge scheme, designed by Thomas Heatherwick and championed by Boris Johnson while mayor of London, collapsed in August 2017. It left taxpayers with a bill of £43 million, making it one of the costliest public scandals in British political history.
— Architects' Journal
According to Architects' Journal, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to see the report – an assessment of the financial position of the Garden Bridge Trust made by the DfT’s internal audit team in July 2016 – was refused and then refused again on appeal earlier this... View full entry
As a preventative measure for the spread of coronavirus, Mayor Eric Garcetti took to Facebook Live to announce that he has now taken executive action to close all movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, entertainment venues and gyms until March 31. Restaurants will remain open but will only provide takeout and delivery. However, grocery stores, food banks and pharmacies will remain open. The restrictions go into effect Sunday at midnight. — Deadline
The announcement comes after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced called for the closure of all movie theaters in New York City, Deadline reports. See Mayor Garcetti's full address below: View full entry
In a recent post on instagram, Roto Architects offered a remote working tool it's been developing for virtual collaboration. Called Second Studio, the tool is open source and available for download on github. https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"... View full entry
In light of the planned redevelopment of the Boston Government Service Center (BGSC), designed by Modernist architect Paul Rudolph in 1962, the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation has issued a pointed letter advocating for "the preservation of the Boston Government Service Center, as a part of the... View full entry
In a statement released today, the 2020 Conference on Architecture announced its postponement due to the progressing developments of the coronavirus pandemic. The event will no longer take place May 14th to 16th in Los Angeles. This comes after Mayor Garcetti's directive to City Departments issued... View full entry
The General Manager of the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department (HCIDLA), Rushmore Cervantes, has announced plans to step down from his position at the end of the month. Cervantes has led the department for over a decade and has presided over a turbulent era in the city... View full entry
[...] vast renovation project aimed at bringing all those innards up-to-date. The endeavor, budgeted at close to 300 million Australian dollars (nearly $200 million U.S.), culminated with the closure of the complex’s concert hall for the first time in its history. The hall has in the past been open 363 days a year, a point of pride, but it was shuttered in February for the start of a two-year upgrade. — The New York Times
Sydney's iconic Jørn Utzon-designed opera house will be turning 50 years old in 2023, and a massive renovation project has been long overdue. Particular focus for the designers in charge of the job, Australian firm ARM Architecture, will be creating accessibility for visitors with mobility... View full entry
Car owners know that circling the block for a spot and moving the car for alternate side parking is just a part of life, unless they’re willing to pay for a parking space. But for some New Yorkers, an unused space in a parking garage or an extra spot in the driveway is a valuable piece of real estate and an easy way to earn extra income. — The New York Times
Parking is big business in New York City, and not just in new Manhattan developments. The New York Times takes a deeper look at the New Yorkers who are making significant sums renting out their unused parking stalls across the city, even as driving becomes more difficult in certain parts of... View full entry
UPDATE: 2020 AIA Conference on Architecture has been postponed On Thursday, March 12th, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a directive to City departments outlining new measures to be taken to limit the spread of COVID-19. With the 2020 AIA Conference on Architecture scheduled to begin... View full entry
In a statement released March 12th, NCARB announced it has adjusted its testing policies to protect the health and safety of licensure candidates. Among those adjustments include: Effective immediately and continuing through the end of April, all ARE appointments can be rescheduled at no cost to... View full entry
California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a sweeping executive order on Thursday that allows the state to commandeer hotels and medical facilities to treat coronavirus patients and permits government officials to hold teleconferences in private without violating open meeting laws.
Newsom issued the order hours after he called for the cancellation of gatherings of 250 or more people, marking the first time he has applied so-called social distancing practices to the entire state of California.
— Los Angeles Times
According to the Los Angeles Times, the governor said 198 people tested positive for COVID-19 in California and that the executive order will enhance the state's ability to fight the pandemic going forward. Additionally, the order also granted a 60-day extension for people or businesses to... View full entry
Architects are no longer builders but healers. They have to get off their computers and out of their cars to heal the social, physical and environmental aspects of our landscape. What architects build is not a finished product but a part of a city’s changing eco-system. — WOODBURY UNIVERSITY
James Rojas as an urbanist with close ties to his home, from its community values, feel, art to neighborhood stories and legends. All materializing in his inimitable urban visioning. His brand of Latino Urbanism via his beloved East LA neighborhood are series of performances, installations... View full entry
The world’s richest people are chartering private jets to set off for holiday homes or specially prepared disaster bunkers in countries that, so far, appear to have avoided the worst of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Many are...taking personal doctors or nurses on their flights to treat them and their families in the event that they become infected. The wealthy are also besieging doctors in private clinics in Harley Street, London, and across the world, demanding private coronavirus tests.
— The Guardian
According to the Guardian, Robert Vicino, founder and chief executive of Vivos Group, a California-based company constructing underground shelters designed to withstand a range of natural disasters and catastrophes, said his firm had seen a surge in inquiries and sales since the... View full entry
Boston continues to hold the dubious distinction of having the worst traffic in the United States, fending off the likes of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago to top traffic data analyst INRIX’s list of congested cities for the second year in a row. [...]
Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C., round out the worst five U.S. cities for congestion. Wichita, Kansas, tops the study for least congestion.
— Boston Herald
The latest annual Global Traffic Scorecard published by transportation analytics company INRIX calculated that the average Boston commuter lost 149 hours — that's more than six days — per year due to traffic congestion, amounting to $2,205 per driver in time lost. Boston ranked as the... View full entry
Van Buren’s most ambitious undertaking so far is the reimagining of a hulking 471,000 square foot Detention Center in downtown Atlanta. [...] Van Buren has been working with social justice organizations and a mayoral task force to transform the site into an “Equity Center” that will incorporate financial literacy, job training, access to legal services and other community needs. — The New York Times
Writing in The New York Times, journalist Patricia Leigh Brown profiles Deanna Van Buren, co-founder of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS), an Oakland, California-based architecture and real estate development non-profit that is working to end mass incarceration. Archinect... View full entry
