After being proposed for addition to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places last year, the iconic Vanna Venturi House has officially joined the list after being voted in by the Philadelphia Historical Commission on November 10th. According to PlanPhilly:"After a nomination first heard last... View full entry
Landscape architect and innovative urbanist Diana Balmori has died at age 84, as announced by her firm's website. The Spanish-born Balmori, who founded her own firm in New York City at age 58, was known for her site-defining and inventive landscape architecture works, including the Abandoibarra... View full entry
The AIA Chicago Board of Directors wants to assure our members that we do not support the recent statement made by national AIA on November 10, which prematurely expressed the support of AIA’s 89,000 members for an unarticulated infrastructure agenda made by the incoming presidential administration. — AIA Chicago
Chicago's AIA chapter has joined a growing list of local chapters, individuals and other architectural organizations who have expressed concerns over AIA CEO Robert Ivy's statement in support of the Trump administration. For a complete run-down of the debacle and its evolution into the #NotMyAIA... View full entry
On November 9, 2016, the American Institute of Architects resigned itself to a cowardly position of economic and political subservience with its support of President-elect Trump. The AIA’s refusal to take a principled stance on an incoming administration that galvanized support through hatred... View full entry
Dear Mr. Ivy:On behalf of the Boston Society of Architects/AIA I am writing to share our shock and disappointment with last week’s post-election statement expressing the Institute’s willingness to work with President-elect Trump and members of the 115th Congress. While we support the need for... View full entry
I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live. I could not live in any of the worlds offered to me — the world of my parents, the world of war, the world of politics. I had to create a world of my own, like a climate, a country, an atmosphere in which I could breathe, reign, and recreate myself when destroyed by living. That, I believe, is the reason for every work of art. — Anaïs Nin
I am writing in response to Robert Ivy’s post-election statement committing the AIA’s 89,000 members to working with Donald Trump. As an architect, as a woman, this AIA member makes no such commitment. The fact that in 2016 the very thought of an intelligent, talented, overqualified woman... View full entry
Cities are always day-to-day. There are cultural buildings, there are important business campuses, and in between there is the normal city. And there are, of course, better and worse quarters. Unfortunately, I have to say that the older quarters are normally the most beautiful. Quarters that have developed over time have more charm and class...It is important that beacons are continually established in this mush, in these newly developed areas — Der Spiegel
Ulrike Knöfel interviewed architect Jacques Herzog regarding the soon to open Elbphilharmonie. They also discuss the state of contemporary architecture, it's role in rapid gentrification and how to best ensure a building is loved/preserved for generations. View full entry
The Prize celebrates a single work of architecture that is judged to be transformative within its societal context and reflects Moriyama's conviction that great architecture transforms society by promoting social justice and humanistic values of respect and inclusiveness. [...]
"the conversation about architecture in Canada needs to include what our peers are doing around the globe ... we wish to be there when the best architecture is discussed, wherever it might have been constructed."
— bustler.net
The new Canadian prize, which includes CAD $100,000 and a sculpture by Canadian designer Wei Yew, will celebrate its second year in 2017. Li Xiaodong won the prize's inaugural award in 2014 for his Liyuan Library in China, and will now serve on the international jury for the 2017 prize—beginning... View full entry
[...] part architect, part furniture designer, part product designer, part researcher, part landscape architect, and part Pied Piper of design, and the things he comes up with manage somehow to be at once charming and brash.
[...] shares not only the Eameses’ determination to be wide-ranging but also their fascination with technology, their interest in communication, and, most important of all, their passionate belief in the meaning of actually making things and in using materials in new ways.
— vanityfair.com
Other recent Thomas Heatherwick sightings in the Archinect news: Renderings of Thomas Heatherwick's "Vessel" for New York's Hudson Yard revealedWhy are Heatherwick's proposals succeeding in New York but tanking in London?Construction of Heatherwick + Signe Nielsen-designed Pier 55 to begin this... View full entry
ICYMI the latest Working out of the Box: featured Emily Hunt Turner, a Twin Cities-based architect, turned lawyer, turned restaurateur with an admirable social mission. Kisha Patterson was impressed "Hat's off to you sister! I've always believed that a solid architecture education isn't just... View full entry
“It’s my life’s work — to let that slip would be tragic,” Schumacher says, making clear his dedication to the firm. But as for his campaign against “the PC takeover of architecture,” isn’t there a chance his iconoclasm will alienate potential clients, when the firm can least afford to do so? [...] “My positions might be controversial, but they are the result of a careful, informed deliberation,” he demurs. “I think people who are frank are trusted.” — wmagazine.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Patrik Schumacher lays out his dreams for 'Parametricism 2.0,' post-ZahaPatrik Schumacher on the parametric future he plans for ZHAZHA after Zaha: Patrik Schumacher on Zaha and what's next for the firm, on Archinect Sessions #61Brexit: a chance to roll back... View full entry
With 16 projects currently in the works in the Middle East-North Africa region, it's not really a surprise that Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has just opened an office in the Dubai Design District. As stated in the press release, the firm has 30 years worth of experience working in the region."A... View full entry
Pierre Chareau was a French architect and designer best known for the groundbreaking Maison de Verre in Paris that he designed with Dutch architect Bernard Bijvoet. However, Chareau's diverse body of work has received hardly any exposure in the U.S. Thanks to a collaboration between Diller... View full entry
Designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier, the 556-unit building, 685 First Avenue, is going up just south of the United Nations headquarters on the westernmost lot of the long-dormant site, which stretches along the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive from 35th Street to 41st Street. It will be the first building that Mr. Meier, known for his Modernist style and white aesthetic, has designed in black. — The New York Times
Black glass curtainwall - bloomimages View full entry
Using some of the same design techniques used for responsive air chambers in submarines, Carlo Ratti Associati has designed a floating plaza/mixed retail center that will float on and adapt to the water level depending on how many people are currently walking on it. The plaza, which is linked to... View full entry