For too long, the issues of gender, disability, and user-centeredness have been relegated to the far margins of architectural history. — Places Journal
Places columnist Barbara Penner uncovers a parallel narrative to the rise of flexible home design — often attributed to a handful of progressive postwar designers — in the history of home economics. She explores the flexible domestic spaces created by designers such as Lillian Moller... View full entry
Sarah Deyong, associate professor at Texas A&M University, has accepted the appointment of Architecture Program director with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Architecture. Deyong will assume her position with the college July 1st. [...]
Deyong is known internationally for her research focused on the post-WWII period to the present, underscoring the symbiotic relationship between HTC and design practice.
— University of Nebraska-Lincoln
"Today, we find ourselves in a dynamic situation, with new technologies and digital tools, for example," Deyong laid out the focus of her directorship. "The utility of history and theory is that it brings the longer, canonical perspective of how we define ourselves into play. We learn from both... View full entry
London-based firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners recently completed the Macallan Distillery and visitor experience in Speyside, Scotland. The design is set into the landscape of the The Macallan estate, a distillery established in 1824 producing one of the most sought after whiskys in the... View full entry
Mr. Yantrasast has established his firm, wHY, as one of the go-to designers for art spaces, from galleries to museums and everything in between, as well as other civic and cultural projects.
Mr. Yantrasast’s specialty has been what he calls “acupuncture architecture”: ingenious renovations of existing spaces and context-sensitive additions.
— The New York Times
The New York Times features Thailand-born American architect, wHY founder, and former Tadao Ando designer, Kulapat Yantrasast, who is extremely busy right now completing beautifully minimalist temples to modernism around the world. View full entry
“Whenever Weiwei is involved, he offers more than just a formal solution,” Mr. Herzog said by phone from Basel. “I think that’s why we get along well. We can develop concepts together without being bound by personal taste.” — The New York Times
The NYT's Rebecca Schmid chats with Jacques Herzog about inspiration, curation, industrial spaces, and, of course, Ai Weiwei. View full entry
Columbia GSAPP Dean Amale Andraos announced today that Andrés Jaque will be the new director of the school's Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design program, effective June 1, 2018. As founder of the Office for Political of Innovation and a teacher of advanced design studios at GSAPP... View full entry
The Tuscon based D.U.S.T, was profiled in a recent Small Studio Snapshot. Thayer-D commented "This aesthetic seems to work well in desert like climates." which makes sense since D.U.S.T explained their approach as "doing our best to respond to the dreams, goals and desires of our clients and to... View full entry
After months of hard work reviewing submissions, selecting content, editing, designing and working with the best printers in the industry, we're excited to announce the second issue of Ed, "Architecture of Disaster," is now available for purchase. If you're an annual subscriber, your copy has... View full entry
The Royal Academy of Arts in London is in extraordinary party mode: to celebrate the institution's 250th anniversary, the RA will host a weekend-long art festival on May 19 and 20 with plenty of events, tours, performances, tours, displays, and DJ sets. At the heart of the festivities is the grand... View full entry
Architecture is filled with stereotypes and status quos that are not productive, and in a world where we increasingly require a collaborative model of production and building, I often disrupt and reset the framework and mindset to have everyone focus on common goals and vision. I think one needs to speak up and one needs to be decisive and aggressive. — Toshiko Mori, in The Harvard Gazette
“I was confused and inspired. I wanted to do everything,” Toshiko Mori says in The Harvard Gazette. In this in-depth interview, Mori talks about growing up in post-war Japan, how she became interested in architecture, launching her firm in her 20s and making a name for herself, and her path... View full entry
Many big-name architects enjoy dabbling in product design and use their brand recognition to sell chairs, tableware, shoes, and anything in-between—but getting to design the new star topping the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City is one of the rarer commissions. Daniel Libeskind... View full entry
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