A new report published by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) indicates that architects who focus on residential projects are bracing for steep losses over the coming months as the COVID-19 economic shut down put in place to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus has dimmed what was... View full entry
With each of us now living in socially distanced self-isolation, with shops shuttered, offices abandoned and urban centres reduced to ghost towns, it’s hard not to wonder what kind of lasting impact Covid-19 will have on our cities. Will homes need to adapt to better accommodate work? Will pavements widen so we can keep our distance? Will we no longer want to live so densely packed together, working in open-plan offices and cramming into lifts? — The Guardian
Writing in The Guardian, Oliver Wainwright takes a long look at the ways, past and present, that architecture has been shaped by concerns over hygiene, sanitation, and disease. View full entry
[...] Michael advocated for collective, neighbourly, and walkable cities, while also practising architecture and urban design in ways that embraced these same principles. Even so, his shrewd wit always recognized the fallacy that architecture can change society by itself. “Architecture is never non-political,” he told Aleksandra Wagner in a 2006 interview “it always reinforces a set of social relations, whether within the family or between the ruler and the ruled”. — Failed Architecture
Architect and educator Fadi Shayya pens a heartfelt, personal tribute to the late Michael Sorkin, pointing out his involvement in Palestine and initiatives like the Open Gaza project. "So many others were closer to Michael," Shayya writes in Failed Architecture. "So many others are more qualified... View full entry
Tree planting has commenced at MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the anticipated art depot that will feature exhibition falls, a sculpture roof garden and restaurant, and expansive public grounds. Photo by Fred Ernst. Courtesy of MVRDV. As part of the tree installation, 75 large birches... View full entry
Rifat Chadirji, a world renowned international architect from Iraq, has passed away in London following a positive diagnosis for COVID-19. Chadirji was born in on December 6, 1926 and passed away April 10, 2020. Throughout a long career, Chadirji helped to develop and propagate a new... View full entry
The latest unemployment figures reported by the federal government show staggering job losses across the country in the wake of the COVID-19-induced economic shutdown. The US Department of Labor reports that 6.6 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims for the week ending April... View full entry
Foster + Partners has designed a general-purpose prototype face visor that can be cleaned and reused to aid in the fight against COVID-19. The firm's hope is to encourage both designers and large scale manufacturers to investigate the potential of digital and laser cutting machines as an... View full entry
Located in the neighborhood of Ayora in Valencia, Spain, this home was rehabilitated for Jose Costa, the architect who also designed the project. As his own home, the endeavor gave Costa a canvas to explore different creative ideas within the space. Costa removed all interior coverings, leaving... View full entry
Ed #3 ‘Normal’ published an excerpt from Ignacio G. Galán’s Interview with Jim LeBrecht about the recently released documentary, 'Crip Camp' exploring his experience at Camp Jened, a summer camp for people with disabilities aka a "crip camp" not a "straight camp". These issues are personal... View full entry
The Urban Projects Bureau (UPB) has recently completed its second building at Graveney School in Tooting, London. The Observatory Block came from a long-term collaboration between the school and UPB. The UPB team recieved funding for a new 8-classroom teaching block in 2017, which after additional... View full entry
Sarah M. Whiting, the new dean at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, has announced that she will be stepping back from her administrative duties temporarily in order to undergo cancer treatment. Previously on Archinect: “Deans List: Sarah Whiting on Taking The Helm of... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIA |LA) chapter has been asked by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to aid the city in its efforts to expand the growing #OperationPPE initiative that has taken root in the city. Initiated by a team led by University of Southern California... View full entry
Japanese-based firm Nendo has completed a novel three-story two-family home in Tokyo. With three generations of the same family sharing the space, the living quarters for the older couple is situated on the 1st floor, while the 2nd and 3rd levels house the younger couple and their child. ... View full entry
Across the country, design communities have mobilized to assist in the effort to fill supply gaps in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers operating on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, Archinect reported on efforts at Princeton, Cornell, and... View full entry
Ma, who makes his home in Pacific Palisades, is in fact a superstar in his native country, China, where he has completed skyscrapers, opera houses, museums, apartments and entire neighborhoods. But both there and here, like a quiet, mysterious character in one of Lucas’ tales (Boba Fett comes to mind), he hovers in the background, nonetheless wielding enormous power. — Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times today published a Sam Lubell profile of Ma Yansong, founder and creative mind of of Beijing- and LA-based MAD Architects. Rendering courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Yansong talks about his under-construction Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, the... View full entry