There’s a visually striking addition to the ever-troubled Tenderloin — a nine-story structure clad in colorful brick that holds 113 apartments for low-income residents, plus a pair of community-oriented retail spaces.
Too bad it took 11 years to summon the newcomer into existence.
— The San Francisco Chronicle
John King, The San Francisco Chronicle's urban design critic, takes a look at the David Baker Architects-designed 222 Taylor project, the fruits of a long-running effort to build affordable housing in San Francisco. While lamenting the long and drawn-out design and approval process the... View full entry
Due to many factors, now more than ever, LA architects have a responsibility to offer solutions and creative resources to solve this crisis immediately — as if our currently 59,000+ unsheltered Angelenos were displaced by an earthquake or a wildfire. — AIA|LA
The Architecture Lobby, a national group that organizes and advocates on issues related to the profession, published a call for design professionals to sign a public pledge condemning “all policies that use the built environment as an instrument of torture and oppression” and refusing to work on any project—be it an ICE office, a detention facility, or a wall—related to the Trump administration’s policies on immigration. — Fast Company
After the devastating and inhumane conditions detained individuals at the border have experienced in recent few years, groups of architects and organizers are increasingly speaking up against design projects relating to border control. As Fast Company's Kelsey... View full entry
Paul Lyon, director of Warwickshire, Coventry and London-based company Lyson Architecture, was fined for referring to himself as a ‘Residential Architect’ on his website. He was also fined for using the Twitter handle @LysonArchitect ’despite having no architects at the pracitce’. — Architect's Journal
In her lecture, entitled “Diverse City: How Equitable Design and Development will Shape Urban Futures,” Dowdell drew on her experiences growing up in Detroit and her work in real estate development. — The Harvard Crimson
Earlier this year, architect, Detroit native, and current National Organization of Minority Architects president Kimberly N. Dowdell presented a lecture discussing the importance of equity in design and development. With her multi-disciplinary background in real estate development... View full entry
We are concerned that at present our education does not give sufficient weight to the inherently ecological and political basis of architecture, nor to our responsibility to meet our uncertain future with socially and environmentally informed practice.
We appreciate and applaud the efforts of contemporary practitioners, but we ask you to join us in using the freedom and particular responsibility of academic institutions to push our discipline further in this direction.
— Architecture Education Declares
Over 1,663 academics, professors, and administrators, mostly from the United Kingdom, have signed on to an open letter aimed at the architectural community that calls for a "curriculum change" in how architectural educators view their positions relative to the ongoing ecological crisis. The... View full entry
...Project Pipeline is designed to nurture the next generation of design professionals from middle school all the way through higher education and beyond...the ultimate goal of the initiative is to create a network of minority professionals across the country who will support one another and lift up the next generation in turn. — Los Angeles Sentinel
The 2019 SoCal NOMA Project Pipeline Architecture & Engineering Summer Camp put on by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) included students between the ages of 10 and 16, and took place on three consecutive Saturdays in July, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel. ... View full entry
Fifty years ago this summer, word reached New Orleans that John Volpe, secretary of the Department of Transportation under President Richard Nixon, had canceled the Riverfront Expressway—the high-speed, elevated interstate highway slated for the edge of the French Quarter. — Nola.com
Tulane University urban geographer Richard Campanella pens a lengthy remembrance for the failed Riverfront Expressway, a Robert Moses-designed highway that would have cut New Orleans off from its historic waterfront and the Mississippi River. The epic struggle to turn back the highway was... View full entry
As the United States suffers through a summer of record-breaking heat, new research shows that temperatures on a scorching summer day can vary as much as 20 degrees across different parts of the same city, with poor or minority neighborhoods often bearing the brunt of that heat. — The New York Times
Using a series of dramatic, color-coded maps, The New York Times highlights the growing disparity between exactly which neighborhoods in America feel the ever-increasing urban heat island effect. The report details stark temperature differences between the neighborhoods of several major... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) are among several organizations who have helped found the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL)—a new coalition of technical professions focused on educating policymakers and the public about the importance of rigorous professional licensing standards. — NCARB
In a press release announcing the creation of ARPL, NCARB CEO Michael J. Armstrong said, “Complex professions are at risk of being swept up in broad calls to reduce licensing requirements for occupations and vocations. It is important for us to work with other technical professions to ensure... View full entry
Imposing tighter limits on leadfoots is a key part of the Vision Zero campaign for reducing traffic deaths and injuries, because of the dramatic safety benefits associated with reducing vehicle velocity. Does this add up to evidence that fast-paced Americans are ready to embrace the virtues of city life in the slow lane? — CItyLab
How fast is too fast? Cities like New York, Portland, Boston, and Washington, D.C. are initiating ways to regulate traffic speeds and install better signage to aid in pedestrian and bicycle safety. With the high number of reported traffic-related deaths and injuries only rising, cities are... View full entry
Quilian Riano, currently a senior strategic design initiatives specialist for New York City’s Department of Design and Construction, Office of the Chief Architect, has been selected as the new associate director of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) at Kent State University in... View full entry
The billionaire real estate developer whose support for President Trump sparked calls for a consumer boycott is also behind one of the flashiest redevelopment projects coming to downtown Los Angeles. — The Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times points out that Stephen M. Ross, the controversial real estate developer and investor behind Related Companies, luxury gyms Equinox and SoulCycle, and other business interests, is also a driving force behind The Grand, a Frank Gehry-designed mega-project slated for... View full entry
Co-Arc International Architects director Catharine Atkins and architect Malika Walele are the leading women behind the 55-story building on Maude Street, which was designed by Co-Arc’s emeritus partner, Francois Pienaar. — TimesLIVE
In Sandton, Johannesburg stands the Leonardo, Africa's tallest building. Designed by the team of Co-Arc International Architects, the building stands at 55-stories tall and is set to be completed this year. Besides the record-breaking height of the building, there's another aspect to this... View full entry
All were built after World War II to cheaply house the masses in a way that jived with communist ideology. Near-identical two- and three-bedroom apartments included amenities like central heat, private bathrooms, and elevators. Standardization and mass production were paramount, though idiosyncrasies—a pop of color here, a geometric motif there—inevitably crept in. — Wired
David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka, the dynamic duo that make up the independent publisher/design studio Zupagrafika have trekked the Eastern Bloc in an effort to capture its hidden treasures. Their adventure has been published in a book called Eastern Blocks. "Eastern Blocks is a... View full entry
