On this week's episode of Archinect Sessions we talk with Carlo Aiello, a Mexican-born, LA-based designer and founder of eVolo. Most of our readers are familiar with eVolo's (very) popular annual skyscraper competition and related series of books. Carlo, the founder of eVolo, is also the designer... View full entry
In June 2016, the MacArthur Foundation launched a high-stakes contest for an incredibly large grant. The big bet competition, called 100&Change, promised $100 million to whatever group could come up with the boldest idea for tackling one of the world's most pressing challenges. The winning... View full entry
UNStudio is known for their groundbreaking work in solution driven designs relating to the ever-changing urban environment. Climate is changing, which leaves architects and designers taking steps towards designing buildings and structures that can accommodate to the overheated urban environment... View full entry
The Oakland Athletics have released updated renderings of the proposed ballpark at Howard Terminal.
The team said it tweaked the design of the original boxy structure to provide better views of the bay and Oakland and after getting feedback from fans and public officials.
— CBS
When plans for the Bjarke Ingels-designed new 34,000-seat baseball stadium at Howard Terminal (complete with gondola and publicly accessible rooftop park, among other features) were unveiled to much fanfare last November by the Oakland Athletics, the public reception was mixed. This week... View full entry
The economy is headed for a slowdown, but its effect on the housing market won’t be as tumultuous as the downturn that led to the Great Recession, Metrostudy chief economist Mark Boud told a standing room-only audience today at the 2019 Metrostudy Housing Outlook Breakfast.
Boud sees overinflated housing prices causing bubbles in some hot markets where affordability is a top issue.
— Builder
In his recent talk, Metrostudy chief economist Mark Boud points out the economic indicators that will bring about the inevitable correction to the current boom cycle but does not predict a collapse of the housing market as dire as in the years following the 2008 financial crisis. "We predict that... View full entry
Indiana Landmarks is looking for a private citizen to take over the House of Tomorrow from Chicago's 1933 World's Fair in order to fund its restoration. Working with the National Park Service, who acquired the property in the 1960s, they are offering a 50-year lease to whomever can cover the... View full entry
It has been exactly one year since the enormous eight-tower Raffles City Chongqing development announced that it set the world record for the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers when it successfully hoisted the three middle segments of the ensemble's signature '9th horizontal... View full entry
A state lawmaker is gunning for more aggressive restrictions on the vast mechanical voids developers often abuse to boost their buildings’ heights as a “more robust” solution to the de Blasio administration’s recent zoning amendment. [...]
Current zoning exempts mechanical voids from a building’s floor-area ratio (FAR)—a given property’s square footage—and puts no height limits on those spaces.
— Curbed NY
"Luxury developers often exploit this loophole in residential towers to hike up the price for apartments on higher floors," explains Curbed NY one reasoning behind the newly introduced bill by New York State Assembly member Linda Rosenthal. View full entry
We would like to thank everyone that attended the launch of Jose Sanchez's book, The Blindspot Initiative. During the packed-house event Jose spoke about the intention of the book and was followed by Behnaz Farahi, Biayna Bogosian of Somewhere Something and Casey Rehm of Kinch. Published... View full entry
Wealthy individuals like Mr. Resnick, well-funded nonprofits and even corporations...have begun buying deserted American main streets, hoping to reinvent them with a fresh aesthetic. The people behind these ventures frequently install their friends and acquaintances in storefronts, while attempting to preserve (or exploit, depending whom you ask) local history. The practice is rarely free of conflict, even when developers have the best intentions. — NYT
In Mountain Dale NY, Butch Resnick now owns most of the previously vacant buildings and has hired a "town curator". Jennifer Miller digs into this and other recent examples, including in Monson Maine, Wardensville, W.Va, Cerro Gordo CA, of combining artists, rural-small-town nostalgia and... View full entry
Starting the year on a strong note, architecture firm billings growth strengthened in January to a level not seen in the previous twelve months according to a new report released today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).
AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for January was 55.3 compared to 51.0* in December. Indicators of work in the pipeline, including inquiries into new projects and the value of new design contracts, also strengthened in January.
— AIA
“The government shutdown affected architecture firms but doesn’t appear to have created a slowdown in the profession,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “While AIA did hear from a few firms that were experiencing significant cash flow issues due to the shutdown, the... View full entry
Join us at Archinect Outpost on March 6th, from 7-9pm to host Lydia Kallipoliti and her newest book, The Architecture of Closed Worlds: Or, What Is the Power of Shit? Published by Lars Müller Publishers and Storefront for Art and Architecture, the book accompanied an eponymous exhibition... View full entry
In Florida, you will see a bewildering mix of optimism, opportunism and denial in the real estate market: luxury condominiums going up in flood-prone South Beach, and property values rising in the vulnerable Keys, post-Hurricane Irma. And though the House of Representatives passed a bill to require real estate agents to disclose flood risks, the Senate has not reviewed it, and a culture of “systemic, fraudulent nondisclosure” persists in high flood risk areas. — The Guardian
As part of her Climate Changed series for The Guardian, Megan Mayhew Bergman investigates the reluctance of Florida's condominium boom (and the wealthy investors behind it) to cool it a bit on new developments in the face of projected climate change-related devastation. "Humans tend to respond to... View full entry
But with land prices near all-time highs, developers and nonprofit housing groups are giving the leftovers another look...Several of the projects that have been built on these odd lots have been very inventive, and might even lead to better land-use and zoning policy — NYT
Stefanos Chen first reported on the launch of Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC competition and later highlighted a few recent examples of this sort of work. The list of firms includes; Aufgang Architects, OJT, SLCE Architects, SZCZ and XS House See also; Atelier Bow-Wow and "Pet Architecture" View full entry
Illinois governor, J.B. Pritzker, plans on signing a state bill that would authorize the sale of the James R. Thompson Center, paving the way for its potential redevelopment. The postmodern building designed by Helmut Jahn has housed offices of the Illinois state government since opening in... View full entry
