Subtle historic restoration and bold reinterpretation have rarely combined on a site as well as they have in an oft-visited district San Francisco. A stone's throw from the Painted Ladies is a Victorian home built in 1889 which draws little attention to itself upon first glance. Back Façade of... View full entry
Deborah brings extensive experience to Van Alen in successfully mobilizing professionals across various sectors —architecture, urban design, ecology, public health--—to take an interdisciplinary approach that effects positive change, particularly among underserved communities. — Van Allen Institute
Deborah Marton has been selected to lead the New York City-based Van Alen Institute as the group's new executive director. Marton will replace David van der Leer, who announced plans to step down in October 2018. Marton is currently the executive director of the New York Restoration Project... View full entry
New York City-based architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) have broken ground on their first high-rise residential project in Philadelphia. The 47-story glass-and-steel monolith, called Arthaus by developer Dranoff Properties, is designed as a bundled mass made up of four towers that each... View full entry
The Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has nearly completed work on their new 56-story residential tower in San Francisco, The Avery. To celebrate, the firm has unveiled a series of new photographs of the spaces that have so far been completed, including the tower's exterior, amenity areas... View full entry
The “Renewable Rikers Act,” crafted by Queens Councilmember Costa Constantinides, aims to create a green vision for the 400-acre correctional facility that would keep the island out of the hands of luxury developers, while lessening the burden on communities loaded with city infrastructure. — Curbed NY
A trio of legislative efforts are underway in New York to transform the Rikers Island jail into a green energy powerhouse for the city. Queens Council member Costa Constantinides told Curbed, “Closing Rikers Island, if we do this right, can not only end overpolicing and the atrocities... View full entry
Over the past several years, home automation and smart home technology have become exceedingly popular and are now more commonplace than ever before. In the not so distant past, these concepts were hard to grasp, and felt out of reach for the average homeowner.
The House of the Future in Ahwatukee, Arizona, designed by former Taliesin Associated Architect Charles Schiffner, embraced these innovative concepts as early as 1978.
— The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
Frank Lloyd Wright was a visionary, but he likely couldn't have predicted the next big to have spun out of Taliesin West, the architect's winter home and school in the Arizona desert. When he passed in 1959, many of his apprentices formed an architecture firm named Taliesin Associated... View full entry
In Los Angeles, where even houses get their proverbial close-ups as TV or movie locations, a property’s appeal can crest on its IMDb credits alone.
But only the Sowden House in the Los Feliz neighborhood can claim film cameos, a pedigreed architect and a history as the possible site of a grisly unsolved murder. Never mind the fact that the exterior entryway resembles a menacing maw, earning it the apt nickname “the Jaws house.”
— The New York Times
The Sowden House, in Los Feliz, California, has one of the most storied pasts in architecture and Hollywood history. Designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, the home was completed in 1926 for John and Ruth Sowden as a "bohemian playhouse for aspiring actors and Hollywood bons... View full entry
Following delays caused by a lawsuit aimed at protecting the adjacent, city-owned Theodore Roosevelt Park, construction officially kicked off for the American Museum of Natural History’s new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. Designed by architect Jeanne Gang, the $383 million Center will add new galleries, classrooms, a theatre, and an expanded library while linking 10 museum buildings for better circulation throughout the campus. — 6sqft
A rendering of the Gilder Center's interior. Rendering by MIR and Studio Gang.Entrance to the Gilder Center from Theodore Roosevelt Park. Rendering by MIR and Studio Gang.Entrance to the Gilder Center from Theodore Roosevelt Park. Rendering by MIR and Studio Gang. View full entry
With over 30 years of experience as a leader and educator in architectural academia, the former dean of architecture at Tulane University School of Architecture will be joining Illinois Institute of Technology's College of Architecture. During his career, Kroloff has also stood as the director of... View full entry
Eight months after the discovery of cracked steel girders forced its closure, the Transbay transit center is safe to reopen, an independent panel of engineers and experts has concluded. The reopening is set for 6 a.m. July 1. — San Francisco Chronicle
A five-member peer-review committee appointed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has approved a series of recently-completed structural repairs made to the Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco. Workers repair damaged structural beams at the Transbay... View full entry
Dan Pitera, the director of the non-profit, community-centric Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC) for the past 20 years, was appointed as the new dean of the University of Detroit Mercy's School of Architecture and will begin his new position on August 1. Described as “a political and... View full entry
The work of Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh belongs to the early modernist period, along with that of Austria's Adolf Loos and California's Irving Gill. Though Mackintosh built very few projects during his career, the few that have survived have continued to be of great importance for... View full entry
The legislation would bring more value to historic tax credits and improve access to the credit and investment for smaller rehabilitation projects.
The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Darin LaHood (R-PA), Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Mike Kelly (R-PA). Senate introduction of similar legislation is expected within the next few weeks.
— ntcic.com
Efforts to expand the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) program have earned bipartisan support in the United States House of Representatives, where last month Congress members Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Darin LaHood (R-PA), Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) introduced the Historic Tax Credit growth... View full entry
Nestled in the mountains near the northern coastline of Taiwan, just outside of its capital, is a tower that, once full, will house the ashes of 400,000 people.
At 20 stories tall, the True Dragon Tower is the biggest columbarium in the world. It’s a striking manifestation of two problems plaguing countries all around Asia—a rapidly aging population, and a lack of space for the dead in urban centers.
— Quartz
Cultures around the world are currently dealing with a problem unique to the 21st century: the excessive use of land to bury the dead in the past has left little more for future generations. While cremation and the spreading of ashes has long acted as a measure against leaving a permanent mark on... View full entry
All the blueprints and material specifications needed to put it together are included in a cardboard box. They come both on a flash drive in PDF format and printed on 36-by-24-inch sheets. The company says that the package also includes reading materials about the house, discount codes to build some of the stuff you need at providers all around the United States, as well as a door knob, a hammer, and a hat with the company logo. — Fast Company
A company that once sold designer trailer homes switched gears after a stalled venture to focus their attention on helping homeowners design their ideal A-frame cabin. For how much you ask? $1,950. As ideal as that sounds, one may be waiting for the catch. However, when Everywhere Inc.'s... View full entry
