Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates just completed the 400-meter-tall China Resources Headquarters, now Shenzhen's third tallest building. The elegant skyscraper, which takes inspiration from the shape of the winter bamboo shoot, features a number of engineering marvels and impresses with a stunning... View full entry
In just four years, the Silicon Valley start-up Katerra has grown from a sizable construction firm to one of the industry's biggest disrupters. Now, with support from one of the tech industry's biggest investors, the California-based construction company has announced plans for another investment... View full entry
The Museum of Contemporary Art announced Wednesday that it will close its Pacific Design Center location next month after exhibiting architecture and design at the West Hollywood satellite for more than 20 years.
MOCA will continue an architecture and design program, but at its Grand Avenue and Geffen Contemporary locations in downtown L.A., board Chairwoman Maria Seferian said in a statement.
— LA Times
Showcased during the Mextrópoli International Festival of Architecture, one of the largest festivals in Latin America with over 50,000 people in attendance, I-CONO dazzles the streets of Mexico City. Aimed at creating and sparking discussion around architecture and the city architects, students... View full entry
The rapid transformation of downtown Los Angeles’ skyline is being fueled in good measure by huge investments from Chinese companies eager to burnish their global brands and capitalize on L.A.’s real estate boom.
Now some of those projects have become a focus of federal agents seeking evidence of possible bribery, extortion, money laundering and other crimes as part of a corruption investigation at City Hall.
— Los Angeles Times
The FBI search warrant lists a number of high-profile property developers and real estate companies from mainland China that have considerably shaped the skyline of Downtown Los Angeles with monumental high-rise projects in recent years, such as Shenzhen New World Group, Shenzhen Hazens... View full entry
The architects behind the Flying Pigs on Parade project—which planned to install four golden pig-shaped balloons in front of the infamous Trump Tower Chicago sign—are back with another anti-Trump parody, this time mocking the President's proposed border wall. New World Projects, the... View full entry
For many architects, much of one's work depends upon the visual possibilities where space can transform. Often overlooked, many designers forget what it is like to design buildings and structures for the blind or hearing impaired. Universal accessibility and inclusive design methods are being... View full entry
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage -- hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle. Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors. — Daily Mail
A city of castles has sprung up in Northwestern Turkey. Burj Al Babas, the 732-home and shopping center development built by the Sarot Group, cost a whopping $205 million and may not be inhabited in the foreseeable future. In recent years, the country's high inflation and currency crisis have... View full entry
John Hill started blogging about buildings back in 1999, providing a regularly-updated single-author architecture blog for longer than anyone else I'm aware of, and I've been around the block a few times since starting Archinect in 1997. As 2019 kicks off, it looks like John is pivoting from... View full entry
ICYMI, Shane Reiner-Roth attended Summit LA18 and offered some thoughts on LivingHome YB1, an immaculately designed first full-scale prototype ADU, by Yves Béhar. Contrary to what some might think Erik Evens argued "this seems to be a pretty credible attempt at prefabricated housing...And... View full entry
What is the role of curation in today’s architecture & design disciplinary framework? The guest curator program aims to produce a conversation through making & curating that begins to analyze traditional modes and models of curating architecture & design. The Guest Curator Program... View full entry
“Andrea Palladio in Los Angeles” is the first of a ten monograph series that pairs seminal architects with contemporary cities. Examining Los Angeles through the work of Andrea Palladio, the publication captures the city through a collection of fictional Palladian projects and accompanying... View full entry
From the sinking city of Venice to the mass bleaching of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, climate change is drastically impacting some of the world's most treasured heritage sites. To date, over 1,000 bucket-list locations have earned a spot on UNESCO's World Heritage list on account of their "outstanding universal value" to humanity. But, if the world continues to warm, many of these landmarks may lose some of those "outstanding" values or even cease to exist at all. — CNN
As of 2019, one out of four UNESCO World Heritage Sites is under threat by climate change, each with few protections against their respective worst case scenarios. Increased humidity, rising sea levels and other climatological factors are newly placing increased pressure of century and... View full entry
The New York Times' latest Op-Doc—part of their series of short, interactive, and virtual reality documentaries—profiles Julio César Cú Cámara, whose job it is to dive into the sewers and water treatment plants of Mexico City. For the past 36 years, Cámara has been a sewage diver... View full entry
Governments can help nudge the industry to use more wood, particularly in the public sector—the construction industry’s biggest client. That would help wood-building specialists achieve greater scale and lower costs. Zero-carbon building regulations should be altered to take account of the emissions that are embodied in materials. This would favour wood as well as innovative ways of producing other materials. — The Economist
The Economist compares the environmental impact of the industrialized world's most common building materials, cement and steel, with that of carbon-trapping wood, and how an earnest effort to reach the emission goals outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement cannot ignore building with timber on a... View full entry