The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced two major changes that will help it restructure and rebound following recent economic losses. The institute will shed staff and sell its surplus property as it looks to redevelop its 66 Portland Place headquarters according to reports... View full entry
ICYMI, Sean Joyner visited with the founder and team behind Gallery 90220. He believes the gallery is part of a larger urban renaissance centered around the artistic expression of Black and Brown creatives, in Compton, South Los Angeles. Adam Paul Martinez commented "Fantastic. I wish... View full entry
The question of how to remake the city’s jails has sharply divided city officials, who are intent on maintaining lockups, advocates for prison rights and even architects. As the city pushes for new designs that might make its jails feel more humane, many activists and some city officials are pushing for the city to invest more in social services in underserved communities, which could keep people out of prison to begin with. — The New York Times
A total of twelve people have died at Rikers this year alone. Unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, and a staffing shortage have only added to the growing chorus of voices calling to shut down the 400-acre prison, which the city has announced plans to do by 2027. The nearly $9 billion... View full entry
The cost of up to $1.7 million for building and installing the cabins, along with the dining and other facilities, will be paid for by the nonprofits DignityMoves and Tipping Point Community. The cabins will remain for 18 months, when the lease the city signed for using the parking lots as outdoor shelter spaces runs out. — The San Francisco Chronicle
The 64-square-foot cabins are produced by LifeMoves, a Silicon Valley-based company responsible for the installation of a similar development in nearby Mountain View in 2016. Neighboring Oakland has operated its own cabin site since 2017, albeit with mixed results for residents who have found... View full entry
A new economic report released by the American Institute of Architects this morning indicates the seventh consecutive month of increasing architecture billings. The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) rose by one point from 54.6 in July to 55.6 in August. New project inquiries and design contracts... View full entry
The AIA has expressed support for legislation recently re-introduced to the U.S. Congress, which seeks to prevent future administrations and the federal government from mandating preferred design styles for federal buildings. The organization had previously been critical of a 2020 decision by the... View full entry
The 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial has officially opened to the public in its fourth edition. This year’s theme, The Available City, is explored by 15 installations featuring more than 80 contributors from 18 different countries. Block Party by Studio Barnes (Miami, FL), in... View full entry
A zoning battle over the height of a planned residential tower in Manhattan’s Upper West Side has been resolved in the New York Supreme Court, ending a yearslong legal dispute that was seen by some as a potential harbinger for luxury development schemes in the nation’s largest city. ... View full entry
Pang, of AaaM Architects, set out to locate Hong Kong’s Brutalist past with other local design professionals, who formed a team of architectural sleuths. They identified more than 70 buildings, 15 of which now feature in an exhibition showing how the architectural style made its mark on Hong Kong’s educational, industrial and religious building — The South China Morning Post
The St. Stephen’s building was designed by Tao Ho, who died in 2019. Ho was also responsible for Hong Kong’s Bauhinia flower flag design, as well as its still-standing Arts Center, which opened in 1977. The exhibition came together with the help of an AaaM intern named Alison Chan Lok-yan, who... View full entry
I was staying at a friend’s apartment in the heart of Hollywood on the evening of September 10th, 2001. I had to wake up unnaturally early the next morning to move my car to avoid getting a parking ticket. I vividly recall the eery feeling squeezed into the tiny old elevator as I descended the... View full entry
But, it was a challenge, Ms. Singhvi said, to understand the architectural drawings without interviewing the original designers. So she and Mr. Baker spoke with experts including structural engineers, architects, geotechnical specialists, professors, lawyers and contractors, who answered questions about what the journalists were discovering and helped confirm they were reading the plans accurately. — The New York Times
The Times' 3D reconstruction of the collapse was very popular online as journalists and investigators dig over records of the original 1981 building by the now infamous William Friedman, who died in 2018. "Being able to read the design drawings helps enormously,” graphics editor Mika... View full entry
The Afghan countryside is littered with abandoned and decaying power plants, prisons, schools, factories, office buildings and military bases, according to a watchdog agency, the legacy of the U.S.’s 20-year effort to fund the establishment of a modern Afghan state that could provide security and basic services for its citizens — The Wall Street Journal
A reported $145 billion went to infrastructure projects and construction equipment alone. In March, an American taxpayer watchdog group called SIGAR released a report which estimated $6.6 billion worth of buildings and vehicles went misused or were abandoned since the 20-year war began... View full entry
Owners of London's Grenfell Tower are expected to announce later this month that the tower will be demolished due to safety concerns. This decision comes more than four years following the fire that claimed the lives of 72 people. UK housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, has been notified... View full entry
Across the country, the average airport terminal is more than 40 years old and further challenged by the growth of air travel. Denver International, for example, opened in 1995 with capacity for 50 million fliers; in 2019, it handled more than 69 million. — The New York Times
Airports have been argued over by various names representing differing views from varied places in the architectural community. Norman Foster recently told Bloomberg he felt the impacts of air travel have to be considered in relation to other primary drivers of climate change. The movement to make... View full entry
As the fallout of Hurricane Ida comes into focus in both the Gulf Coast region and the Atlantic Northeast, one area of chronic concern has become ground zero for planning gaps that are increasingly deadly indicators of race and class in cities that number among the most expensive in the world. The... View full entry
