Norweigan-born architect Peter Pran, FAIA, has passed away. He was a co-founder and partner of Peter Pran + H Architects in New York City, and had previously held positions at Ellerbe Becket, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and NBBJ. He has also been an influential educator, having taught at schools across the country including the University of Kansas, Cornell University, and the University of Illinois-Chicago, as well as schools in Japan, Italy, and Denmark. — The Architect's Newspaper
A full obituary will follow. View full entry
Facebook announced today that it has partnered with OMA to design the masterplan for Willow Campus, a mixed-use neighborhood adjacent to their existing headquarters in Menlo Park. "The first official step will be the filing of our plan with Menlo Park in July 2017. We will begin more formal... View full entry
It will be built from the top down on a suspension bridge, modelled after and painted the colour of the Golden Gate bridge. At its base will be a new 1,075-seat theatre, and below that an excavation site that’s 4.5 times as large as the museum’s excavation. It is expected to cost over $300m. — The Guardian
In a noteworthy meeting of infrastructure and luxury real estate development, Tasmanian organizer of Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) David Walsh believes the people who enjoy the museum will definitely dig an onsite luxury hotel that uses a suspension bridge to support its seven upper... View full entry
ICYMI, the always "into it" Julia Ingalls, sat down with Harvard GSD's K. Michael Hays + Lisa Haber-Thomson to discuss the role of jargon in pedagogy, a new GSD online course offering and the "vexed notion of architecture’s autonomy." Will Galloway was "very impressed that Michael Hays and... View full entry
After nearly three decades of involvement with the L.A. Skid Row Housing Trust (and working relationships with architects including Michael Maltzan and Brooks + Scarpa), C.E.O. Mike Alvidrez has announced his plans to step down next year. Brooks + Scarpa's homeless housing "The Six" developed in... View full entry
Many transportation experts were worried about the viability of the project from its earliest stages, including one of the concept creators, Craig Hodgetts. An architecture professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, Hodgetts told Quartz last August that the TEB appeared be an “immature project” with some “fundamental problems.” He mentioned, for example, the tight space potentially having a psychological effect on drivers who might respond by braking when driving under the bus. — Quartz Media
While no clear reason has been given as to why the trial run of the so-called "car-eating" bus has been shuttered, Chinese officials have confirmed that they are removing the electric tracks on which the TEB was running. The trial run was launched last year in August, around which time hopeful... View full entry
Modern, steel-embedded concrete seawalls tend to need repair after a few decades of erosion from the endless procession of waves, but the Roman pier at Portus Cosanus in Orbetello, Italy has remained solid for almost two thousand years. Scientists have finally figured out the missing ingredient... View full entry
[...] Art Fund Museum of the Year is awarded annually to one outstanding museum, which, in the opinion of the judges, has shown exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement across the preceding 12 months.
The Hepworth Wakefield was selected as winner of the £100,000 prize from a group of five finalists, also including Lapworth Museum of Geology (Birmingham), National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art (Newmarket), Sir John Soane’s Museum (London) and Tate Modern (London).
— artfund.org
Photo: Iwan Baan."The Hepworth Wakefield has been a powerful force of energy from the moment it opened in 2011, but it has just kept growing in reach and impact ever since," said Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar. "David Chipperfield’s building has proved a perfect stage – both for the display... View full entry
In a study conducted by UCL and Bangor University researchers in which people were shown a Google Street View, a painting of St. Peter's Basilica and a surreal computer generated image, architects, sculptors and painters consistently conceptualized of the space differently than those with no... View full entry
For decades, authoritarian regimes have waged war on modern architecture and the philosophy it embodies. A new ad proves it’s still a target. — CO.DESIGN
In an alarmingly threatening and dangerous ad, NRA attacks intellectualism (in its core sense) via modern architecture. This savage ad might not only target your profession and/or your education but also puts the average citizen in front of the barrel of a gun. View full entry
Known as “S Houses,” these prefab structures going up here in Ba Vi, about 30 miles from Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, are iterations of a prototype that Mr. Nghia has been honing since about 2013. [...]
But Mr. Nghia says that his plan is to mass-manufacture this portable, easy-to-assemble design for people in slums, remote areas or refugee camps around the world, beginning later this year, all for the starting price — $1,500 — of about two iPhones.
— New York Times
The NYT takes a closer look at the extremely affordable S House prefab system currently going up by the dozens in Vietnam, with a keen eye on the global super-low-cost market. Designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, a design studio with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, S House was exhibited... View full entry
Architects love the freedom presented by a blank sheet of paper (or CAD window), but the reality of practice inevitably puts limits on the imagination. This is doubly true when it comes to remodels, which require working around somebody else’s design. But constraints can also encourage... View full entry
Designed by a Brazilian architecture firm SUBdV Architecture, this Factory and Office Annex in São Paulo, fuses high-tech architectural design strategies with local low-tech construction methodologies. The façade system references the traditional Brazilian ‘cobogo’ shading screen, which... View full entry
Mr. Ando plans to build a circular structure with three levels of galleries inside the round building, which is bound by strict historic preservation norms. It will have 32,000 square feet of exhibition space and an underground auditorium. The museum, which will only showcase contemporary art — including pieces from Mr. Pinault’s collection of more than 3,000 works — will be renovated and run by his family’s company... — The New York Times
Photo: © Artefactory Lab; Tadao Ando Architect & Associates; NeM / Niney & Marca Architects; Agency Pierre-Antoine Gatier / Courtesy of Collection Pinault Is this the first time a former stock exchange has been transformed into a museum? Either way, the new design should be open to the... View full entry
While no one can claim that they understand where inspiration comes from, most would agree that it doesn't hurt to have an unfettered view of nature in an architecturally inventive setting. Norwegian architects Reiulf Ramstad are among the seven finalists in the Ross Pavilion International Design... View full entry