Details are scant, there's only one rendering, and yet according to on-the-nose-named developer PortLiving, Shigeru Ban has designed the world's tallest timber hybrid apartment complex. Called Terrace House, the sloping glass-encased, timber-framed, concrete and steel-cored building will... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Figueras International Seating. The building of the Philharmonie de Paris, designed by Jean Nouvel, is a unique architectural work in the Parc de La Villette in the French capital. The seating installed inside was specifically created for the hall by Jean Nouvel in... View full entry
Mr. Rosen would not mind getting a little credit for maintaining the 59-year-old building, a landmark inside and outside, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson. With its rich materials and exquisite detailing, the building demands scrupulous attention. And money.
RFR executives estimated that it cost about 20 percent more to maintain the seemingly spartan Seagram Building than it would a typical office tower of roughly the same size and age. Less is more.
— nytimes.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Iconic furniture, art, tableware and even a sausage grinder: hundreds of lots from Philip Johnson's Four Seasons head to auctionModernist treasures from Philip Johnson's iconic Four Seasons Restaurant headed for auctionLandmarked Four Seasons restaurant must... View full entry
Researchers from the University of British Columbia have suggested that modular construction techniques are key to assuaging cities' housing shortages.Associate engineering professor Kasun Hewage at UBC, along with PhD candidate Mohammad Kamali, conducted "the first comprehensive review of... View full entry
The Genesis-sized replica of Noah's Ark is just the beginning of Ark Encounter, Kentucky's new biblical theme park managed by the Christian apologist ministry, Answers in Genesis. Troyer Group are the architects behind the ark, with president and chair LeRoy Troyer as the lead architect.I spoke... View full entry
What makes a museum building successful? Until the arrival of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim in Bilbao in 1997, this question might have been almost exclusively focused on the best environments in which to view art. But the Guggenheim’s phenomenal success, which allowed the Basque government to recoup the construction costs within three years, moved the debate on to issues of branding and statement architecture.
Now the discussion has moved on again.
— theartnewspaper.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Archinect's critical round-up of Snøhetta's SFMOMA additionOMA's Pierre Lassonde Pavilion in Quebec will finally open tomorrowFirst look inside Tate Modern's new Extension View full entry
The world heritage site status of Liverpool’s waterfront is in jeopardy after the city’s mayor, Joe Anderson, rejected a plea by UN cultural chiefs to halt development in the city [...]
Anderson said he would be writing to the UN body informing it that the city would not be complying with its request [...]
Heritage campaigners recently went to court in a fight to stop the demolition of 10 historic buildings near Liverpool Lime Street station in the buffer zone.
— The Guardian
More Liverpool-related architecture news on archinect:RIBA set to open national architecture centre in LiverpoolTurning the “ugliest building in Liverpool” into an exemplar of public healthAssemble wins Turner Prize, becoming first architects to win "UK's most prestigious art prize" View full entry
The UN's cultural organisation has listed 17 works by pioneering Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier as world heritage sites.
Le Corbusier spearheaded the modern movement after World War One, using iron, concrete and glass in a new focus on bold lines and functionality that did not appeal to everyone.
The sites are in seven countries.
— BBC News
17 of Le Corbusier's buildings, including Unité d’habitation in Marseille and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo were announced as new UN world heritage sites. The 17 buildings meet three of the selection criteria for World Heritage status:(i) A masterpiece of human creative... View full entry
"We’re not against art or culture," [says Boyle Heights activist Maga Miranda.] "...But the art galleries are part of a broader effort by planners and politicians and developers who want to artwash gentrification."
"We’re saying that they need to make a bigger effort to amplify the voices of the people that are gonna be most affected by this, and that doesn’t happen to be artists in this situation. It happens to be people who can’t afford to live here anymore."
— LA Weekly
Amid widespread gentrification in LA, activists in Boyle Heights have been scrutinizing the art galleries that set up shop there in recent years — including significant spaces like Self Help Graphics, which helped put the Eastside neighborhood on the cultural map. While activists want to... View full entry
Los Angeles moved one crucial step closer Thursday to tightening city rules meant to stop mansionization – the phenomenon of big, boxy homes popping up on not-so-big lots.
Local politicians first sought to tackle mansionization years ago, passing city rules to curb the size of new and renovated homes based on the size of the lots they were built on.
Neighborhood activists soon complained the rules were riddled with “loopholes” that afforded builders additional square footage [...].
— latimes.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:This Bel Air home could be yours for a mere half billion dollars (yes, B-illion)How architecture is helping make Arcadia a magnet for Chinese moneyReturn of 'mansionization' has some L.A. homeowners grumbling View full entry
It’s not a new argument to say that cities are increasingly morphing from social configurations to investment vehicles. [...]
“Self-builds”, “Baugruppen”, and “zelfbouw” are just a few ways to define variations of building-it-yourself (BIY), whether done individually or as a collective. The end users (who are the commissioners), together with architects, decide on the design of their homes, and then take care of the construction themselves or have contractors do it.
— failedarchitecture.com
Related stories on Archinect:It's the Culture, Stupid: curatorial statement for the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, from executive director George BrugmansReinhold Martin hosts contentious 'House Housing' panel, provoking discussion on inequality, real estate and architectureHalfway... View full entry
The decision to abolish the Department for Energy and Climate Change has been variously condemned as “plain stupid”, “deeply worrying” and “terrible” by politicians, campaigners and experts.
One of Theresa May’s first acts as Prime Minister was to move responsibility for climate change to a new Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
— the Independent
"Only on Monday, Government advisers had warned of the need to take urgent action to prepare the UK for floods, droughts, heatwaves and food shortages caused by climate change."In related news:In a surprise announcement, UK gov to provide £540m for flood protectionBritain's last deep-pit coal... View full entry
“This is a missed opportunity,” Paes acknowledged. “We are not showcasing ourselves. With all these economic and political crises, with all these scandals, it is not the best moment to be in the eyes of the world. This is bad.”
But he also believes the problems are exaggerated by the press in a way that unfairly portrays Rio to the outside world...“There has never been so much transformation for poor people [in Rio]...The Olympic Games are a great inspiration to get things done.”
— The Guardian
More on Archinect:The rapid gentrification of Rio's favelas in advance of the OlympicsRio Olympics "must be postponed, moved, or both" due to Zika threat11 workers have died so far during Rio Olympic construction, audit findsWith the Rio Olympics opening in less than four months, sports federation... View full entry
"House Housing; An Untimely History of Architecture and Real Estate", a globally touring exhibit, has finally arrived in its place of conception, New York City. After first appearing at the 2014 Venice Biennale, “House Housing” has popped up in Chicago, Berlin and Los Angeles. The exhibit... View full entry
This week on the podcast, Julia Ingalls joins us to discuss the byzantine considerations behind how architects charge for work, and shares some helpful guidelines from her recent piece about how residential architecture fee rates are determined.We also dip into the recent $3M lawsuit against... View full entry
