Katherine Guimapang profiled architect Paul Preissner for an edition of Studio Snapshot. Therein Preissner explained his interest in "Making normal things weird, and popularizing the idea that boring can be valuable too." spamdeleter wondered "I'm not sure if it's because of the slightly dry... View full entry
According to Nola, "Brad Pitt will remain as a defendant in a lawsuit that alleges shoddy construction of some of the homes his foundation helped build in the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina, an Orleans Parish judge has ruled." In the midst of the allegations, Pitt and other... View full entry
The former Longaberger basket building on the eastern edge of Newark will be open for business again, although it will be a place to spend the night instead of work in an office.
In a couple years, the seven-story basket building will open as a luxury hotel with 150 rooms, a restaurant and indoor pool.
— Newark Advocate
Formerly the quirky headquarters of The Longaberger Company in Newark, Ohio, the building has been sitting empty since 2016 and was eventually sold to developers in late 2017 (previously on Archinect). Cleveland-based Sandvick Architects will be designing the landmark's transformation into a... View full entry
The Minister's Treehouse — reportedly the largest treehouse in the world — has burned to the ground after a raging fire. The Tennessee landmark went up in flames late Tuesday night, and officials were unable to save it.
Cumberland County Fire Rescue said the entire building turned to ash in less than 15 minutes, CBS affiliate WVLT-TV confirmed. Locals watched as the fire erupted around 10:30 p.m. local time. The house collapsed just as emergency services arrived.
— CBS News
Built by Tennessee minister Horace Burgess, in response to a vision he had, the construction of the treehouse began in 1993. The structure was supported by an 80-foot-tall oak tree and quickly became a popular tourist attraction. In 2012 the location was closed due to fire safety concerns, a worry... View full entry
Despite its surface rhetoric of rationality, clarity and efficiency, and smooth surfaces, the Bauhaus was never straightforward. Bauhauslers were engaged with everything that escapes rationality: sexuality, violence, esoteric philosophies, occultism, disease, the psyche, pharmacology, extraterrestrial life, artificial intelligence, chance, the primitive, the fetish, the animal, plants, etc. The Bauhaus was, in fact, a veritable cauldron of perversions. — Metropolis
Beatriz Colomina, history of architecture professor at the Princeton School of Architecture, pens a provocative archival photo essay in Metropolis highlighting some of the lesser-known transgressive histories of the Bauhaus. According to Colomina, who conducted research on the Bauhaus with... View full entry
...construction workers on Wednesday began building the first new border wall in South Texas just south of the town of Donna...it will connect to an existing border wall that was built in 2008 under the 2006 Secure Fence Act.
On Sept. 29, CBP in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to Gibraltar-Caddell Joint Venture for up to $296 million to build 22 miles of noncontiguous border wall starting east of Santa Ana.
— Border Report
The new construction has prompted concern from locals in the area, as the work has begun on private land. According to Border Report, "many other landowners in the region have so far refused CBP access to survey their lands, and have not sold their properties for wall construction." View full entry
Reopening after a 14-month makeover, the renovated store is a multi-storey expo fitted with the work of [...] artists, which – unlike those collections, and art you'd find in a concept store – is intended to be viewed, rather than purchased. — Elle
Photo: Stephane Muratet, courtesy Louis Vuitton Elle's Sara McAlpine on the rise of 'The Spectacle Store' among luxury retailers and how Louis Vuitton's newly reopened London flagship fits right in. "The face of retail changes so fast," Peter Marino, whose New York-based firm was in charge of the... View full entry
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has published a list of "The 50 Most Influential Tall Buildings of the Last 50 Years" ahead of its 10th World Congress happening in Chicago next week. Celebrating the organization’s 50th anniversary this year, the high-profile roundup places... View full entry
The push for cleaner construction methods to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution on building sites has increased in recent years due to the worsening climate crisis. Nations across the globe have expressed their intent in finding better solutions for addressing the negative impacts... View full entry
Plans for a skinny skyscraper with a clever diamond-paned exoskeleton has won rave reviews from city planning commissioners, who predict it might be beautiful enough to earn a spot as one of LA’s most iconic buildings. [...]
If it’s ever built, that is.
— Curbed LA
The proposal for Olympic Tower, a showy 57-story skyscraper near the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles, has been inching through the planning process for some time now, and as Curbed LA reports, has recently managed to wow the city's planning commission. Designed by Nardi Associates, the... View full entry
We are entering the home stretch of Archtober 2019, New York City’s annual Architecture and Design Month, and there's still so much to do! Archinect & Bustler have partnered with Archtober for the ninth year in a row and present you our weekly highlights from a packed calendar. Below are our... View full entry
A result of Yemen’s complex civil war – now in its fifth year – many of the country’s wonders have been damaged or are under threat. While the destruction pales in comparison to the human cost of the conflict, the country’s rich cultural heritage has also been ravaged. — The Guardian
Writing in The Guardian, author Bethan McKernan describes the ways in which Yemen’s ancient cultural heritage has been put at risk by the country’s tragic civil war. Sites that are under threat include the city of Shibam, a 1,700-year-old settlement built from a series of tall... View full entry
“The memorial is a circle, a continuous ring never ending, an opening for people to step inside and contemplate, to learn what slavery was about. For the community, I hope it enlightens young and old, and reminds everyone that slavery was a very evil part of our history.” — UVA Today
Members of the University of Virginia share their personal experiences and connections to the currently-under-construction Memorial to Enslaved Laborers that is taking shape on the campus. The university’s Board of Visitors has chosen an interdisciplinary team to bring the... View full entry
On Thursday, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services will unveil an app created by UC Berkeley that will give all Californians who download it on iOS and Android phones the chance to get earthquake early warnings from any corner of the state.
Authorities will also begin issuing quake early warnings through the Wireless Emergency Alerts system, offering text message alerts even for people who have not downloaded the app.
— The Los Angeles Times
The new warning system will alert Californians who have the app when an earthquake registering at level 3 on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale strikes nearby. The state will send out text message alerts over its Wireless Emergency Alerts system to anyone within range of a level... View full entry
Snøhetta's new bench design for the United Nations, entitled The Best Weapon after Nelson Mandela's historic adage: "the best weapon is to sit down and talk," was commissioned by the Nobel Peace Center and is currently installed at the organization's headquarters in New York City. ... View full entry
