Foster + Partners' new Hong Kong luxury hotel, The Murray, is now fully open to the public. Formerly a 1970's government office building, the firm has transformed these 25 stories into a unique urban experience for visitors. Reception area of the Murray Building, renovated by Foster + Partners... View full entry
As hospice design becomes more formally ambitious — and standardized — we should remember there is no universal model for ‘dying well.’ — Places Journal
What is the ideal setting for the end of life? The dominant templates of the mid-century mega-hospital and the domestic hospice set the rational spaces of medical institutions against the familiarity of home. Yet, we are increasingly seeing hybrid forms that deviate from these two distinct... View full entry
Housing is one of our most essential and cherished commodities. It is rightly one of our biggest markets, but unfortunately one of the most politicised, suffocating under quasi-socialist political interventionism. The loss of prosperity in our whole society is enormous. Not only because of poor housing provision, but because of its stifling impact on all economic activities. That’s why the need for a capitalist revolution is so urgent. — The Guardian
It's been a bit quiet around Zaha Hadid Architects principal and outspoken free-market evangelist Patrik Schumacher since his last big public statement calling for the elimination of social housing caused an overwhelming backlash, but now he's back with a new commentary piece on how to fix housing... View full entry
“I think architecture is in a sort of crisis,” he says. “We’ve lost our social purpose. What we are seeing now is construction as a product of investment. We are building a lot, but we are building big investment projects, as if we’re doing architecture without architecture. It’s more about investment than it is about urbanism. We used to be involved in planning and building cities, building societies. But now we are discussing housing as if it were a strange product like washing machines [...] — Financial Times
In Jan Dalley's FT piece, the soft-spoken British architect expresses his concerns about architecture as a mere tool of the free market, the shrinking role of architects as society builders, and why we are building "horrible cities." View full entry
The news of British architect Will Alsop's death over the weekend was met with an outpouring of sympathy from fellow architects and journalists around the web. A recipient of the RIBA's Stirling Prize for his Peckham Library building in 2000, an avid painter, and master of seemingly floating... View full entry
But recently, a generation of homeowners and architects...have started not just ignoring, but defying the Law of Jante....From cast-concrete bunkers to glass-framed aeries, the new houses shock, subverting long-established order with a cool blast of modernity, while also paying homage to the island’s chilly dignity. — T Magazine
Nancy Hass travels to Gotland, a low-key, summer retreat for Swedes. Traditionally, simple farmhouse vernacular reigned. Yet, now firms such as Skalso, Murman Arkitekter, Deve Architects and Tham & Videgård are exploring a more contemporary idiom. View full entry
Sharjah is looking to transform the discussion around urban life with its new initiative, the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, which has announced the curator for its inaugural exhibition.
Adrian Lahoud, dean of the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London and a researcher on Arab cities, will curate the new initiative’s flagship event, to be held in November 2019.
— The National
Research work of RCA Architecture Dean Adrian Lahoud focuses primarily on urban spatial forms and large scale environmental change, particularly in the Arab world and Africa, making him a qualified candidate to establish this new triennial program for Sharjah, Dubai's neighbor and third largest... View full entry
This week Ken, Donna and I are joined by architect and writer Esther Sperber to discuss the very real and serious issue of mental health in architecture. Esther owns Studio ST Architects, a small practice in New York City, and frequently writes about mental health, with a specific focus on... View full entry
Acclaimed Japanese-American architect and former chair of architecture at Harvard University GSD, Toshiko Mori has built a career on technical research, experimental design, and pedagogical practice. In the ninth video from the Time-Space-Existence series, produced by PLANE—SITE, Mori discusses... View full entry
New renderings have been unveiled for One Beekman, a mixed-use development designed by Richard Rogers, and it has nearly reached its 25-story pinnacle in the Financial District. As the firm’s first residential project in the United States, Rogers Stirk Harbour +... View full entry
the facade of the recently opened Blue Mountain School is impossible to miss. The six-level brick townhouse, on the corner of Redchurch and Chance Streets, has been painted in a sleek and surprising silver. Inside, the multipurpose space defies easy categorization. — T Magazine
Natalia Rachlin highlights the Blue Mountain School. The latest project by James Brown and his partner, Christie Fels, with architecting from 6a Architects, this corner of Shoreditch is a kind of Gesamtkunstwerk! h/t AD, The Telegraph and Wallpaper View full entry
Giuseppe Gallo, a PhD candidate in Architecture at the University of Palermo, has created a series of posters inspired by 9 Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) projects. Gallo is the creative director of Mirabilia, a communication design studio based in Palermo, with a background in graphic design. ... View full entry
![Adam Neumann and Bjarke Ingels. [Photo: Alexei Hay/courtesy WeWork]](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/lw/lw39764empipikq3.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=514 "Adam Neumann and Bjarke Ingels. [Photo: Alexei Hay/courtesy WeWork]")
Neumann says that in 2018, that will mean WeWork will build more buildings, some that reimagine what’s already there, like the Lord & Taylor project, and others that WeWork and Ingels will design in their entirety. Then, in 2019, the company plans to start creating “campuses”–essentially, WeWork on a neighborhood scale. That could look like a several-block radius where there’s a coworking space, coliving residence, and a school all clustered together, all operating under the WeWork umbrella. — FastCo
BIG has shared with Archinect the following press release: WeWork announces Bjarke Ingels as Chief Architect to advise and develop the firm’s design vision and language for buildings, campuses and neighborhoods globally. Bjarke will maintain his role as Founding Partner and Creative Director at... View full entry
I think we haven’t thought through the challenge of technology for city mobility. We are stuck with some 120-year-old ideas that the industry is desperately holding on to. I tell students: Whenever you hear the word “smart,” beware, because that is somebody who wants to sell as many millions as possible of some new gimmick. And he is not necessarily giving you a better quality of life. — CityLab
Annette Becker and Lessano Negussie, curators of the new exhibition RIDE A BIKE! Reclaim the City at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt, Germany, interviewed the 81-year-old 'people-friendly city' evangelist for the show's accompanying book. View full entry
Next fall, Indiana University announced Monday, the building will house the university’s new master of architecture program, serving as an outpost of the flagship Bloomington campus 36 miles to the west. But this will be no ordinary outpost.
Columbus, a small-town architectural mecca, boasts buildings by such renowned architects as Eliel and Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Chicago’s Harry Weese.
— Chicago Tribune
Blair Kamin tells the story of the former The Republic newspaper building—a modernist gem designed by SOM partner Myron Goldsmith and opened in 1971—which will soon find a second life as Indiana University's new architecture graduate program studio in Columbus, Indiana. View full entry
