Last fall, the international research project and design ideas competition, "Transiting Cities - Low Carbon Futures," had invited designers and academic institutions from various fields to envision new, innovative and alternative cities of the near future by defining opportunities for transition into low carbon, prosperous, and vibrant communities.
One of the finalist entries [...] is the concept "Networked Ecologies: Rethinking Remediation" by Arizona-based team Studio One.
— bustler.net
The National Park Service said Thursday that it would begin demolishing the Cyclorama building as soon as February, clearing the site ahead of the 150th anniversary commemoration of the battle.
The site will be restored to its 1863 appearance, complete with a period apple orchard and replicas of the wood fences that once crisscrossed the fields, park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said. The massive painting that the building once housed has been separately preserved.
— philly.com
BAM recently participated in a competition in China for a 100m tall monument and 350m long pedestrian bridge that crosses an offshoot of the Yangzte River in Nanjing's new CBD district named HeXi. Unlike competitions in Western countries, this one wasn't about who would win or lose, or who would be paid or not paid, but it was about collecting as many ideas as possible. Is China doing something smart hoarding all of this design intellectual property? — Jacob Slevin, huffingtonpost.com
In true Studio Berlin fashion, this last summer's group has put together a short film on their escapades throughout Europe. Enjoy! — archinect.com
Alison Cuddy of WBEZ 91.5 reported that the Save Prentice Coalition has made the case that re-using the former Prentice Hospital could mean more money, jobs...curtkram was puzzled "hmm. i used to live on the north side of chicago and i don't recall ever seeing this building. anyway, aside from preserving this building because of it's characteristic of a historic style, or because some particularly important person thinks it looks cool, there is a good argument for sustainability".
Archinect finished reflecting back on the 2012 most trafficked pages in Archinect's diverse online ecosystem, with a list of 12 top 12 lists for '12. As always, they listing the most popular pages from across the site, based exclusively on visits by unique page-views. We completed the look-back... View full entry
Indicating his ambitions for the next showcase in 2014, Koolhaas said he planned to ‘give a new look’ to architecture’s basic elements ‘to see if we can discover something new about architecture.’
The festival’s board, chaired by Paolo Baratta, formally appointed the star architect to the role today.
— architectsjournal.co.uk
Ada Louise Huxtable, the dean of American architecture critics, died Monday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. She was 91. — online.wsj.com
"In offering an alternative view, Wang disputes that the power and prevalence of huge new building projects are the only or inevitable architectural products his country has to offer" — Guardian
Last year Rowan Moore had a chance to speak with Wang Shu (winner of the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize) when he was in London for the Sustaining Identity conference at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The conference sought to bring together acclaimed international architects whose work... View full entry
The study argues that re-using Prentice and developing a new facility would generate more money and jobs than demolition and new construction.
The study claims the rehab would generate one-time taxes and temporary jobs, in fields ranging from construction to finance and insurance. And a re-designed, multi-purpose Prentice would mean 980 permanent jobs and just over $1 million a year in local tax revenues.
— wbez.org
The reuse alternatives for Prentice were unveiled at a press conference on January 3, 2013. You can view the presentation here (PDF file). View full entry
As neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Sandy begin drafting plans for reconstruction, some progressive architects and urban planners have been pointing out that the emerging science of biomimicry offers a way forward. The notion is that the next generation of waterfront designs could draw inspiration from the intricate ways that plants and animals have adapted to their situations over hundreds of millions of years. — green.blogs.nytimes.com
There’s a collaboration I’m working with Zaha Hadid, we’re touring around with the idea of a prefab for a house. — hypebeast.com
China is also the land of the knock-off: knock-off designer handbags, knock-off blockbuster movies on DVDs, etc. But now, it seems the knock-off has gone off the charts in terms of proportion: entire buildings. — theworld.org
As we have previously mentioned, Zaha Hadid is the latest victim of piracy in China, with a upcoming copy of her Wangjing Soho complex... scheduled to be completed before the original. NPR explores this issue with McGill architecture prof Avi Friedman. View full entry
Below are the 12 most visited Discussion threads during 2012. For a full list of all of our top 12 lists for 2012, click here. 1. 2012 M.Arch Applicants - Final Results, Decisions, Stats, etc. 2. Is there any future in Architecture??? 3. Yay!!!!! Architecture has the highest unemployment rate!... View full entry
Salameh is heading the “Adh Dhariyeh” project, in the south of Hebron, where he began with single-building restoration and has progressed to a community centre and two schools...“Dhariyeh is one of 50 historical sites whose renovation Riwaq has undertaken and which constitute 50 per cent of the architectural heritage of Palestine.” Salameh says. “There are almost 900 old buildings and the project is funded by the Arab Fund in Kuwait. — Gulf News-Weekend Review
Rafique Gangat writes about Riwaq, a Palestinian non-profit organisation established in 1991 in Ramallah, by a group of architects, many trained in the West. Riwaq aims to safeguard Palestinian heritage through a number of projects including; the establishment of a National Register of Historic... View full entry
The United Technologies Corp. unit has to go beyond the braking mechanism Elisha Otis demonstrated with a rope and saber at the 1854 World’s Fair. It’s working on systems able to stop 16 metric tons (35,274 pounds) of elevator and cable falling from the top of a kilometer-tall tower -- equal to a half-full tractor trailer driven off a cliff. — bloomberg.com
