Once, twice, three times a pyramid: thanks to non-invasive scanning, archaeologists have determined that "El Castilo," also known as the Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen Itza, has two other pyramids inside of it. As The Guardian explains:"A 10-metre-tall pyramid was found within another 20-metre... View full entry
Some good news from the White House: iconic designers Maya Lin and Frank Gehry will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in a ceremony on November 22nd. While both designers have already made tremendous contributions to the global aesthetic landscape, they're not done... View full entry
Returning to Berlin after four years in Singapore, the 2016 World Architecture Festival is in full swing. Over 2,000 architects and design enthusiasts flock to the two-day event to watch the live competition unfold before their eyes, as architecture teams go head-to-head to be crowned as... View full entry
Frank Gehry has revealed that French president Francois Hollande has given him his word that he could self-exile to France now that Donald Trump has been elected the 45th President of the United States.
[...]
With the bleak prognostic becoming a reality, the starchitect might see himself emigrating to a new country, with a big welcome from its leader.
— artnet
Gehry said this during an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, where he also railed against critics who don't consider him an artist, as well as most buildings. In fact, Gehry claims a correlation between people's ambivalence towards uninteresting architecture and support for... View full entry
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
