Following a three-year, £50.7m programme of works, dubbed the “Open Up” project, the ROH hopes to have a more visible, welcoming presence. Its motivations have not only been to shed its rarefied reputation, but also to improve crowd flow inside the constricted corridors, inject daytime activity and transform its secondary studio, the Linbury, into a new world-class theatre. Walls have been bulldozed, spaces excavated, and restaurants extended [...] — The Guardian
Oliver Wainwright reviews the result of Stanton Williams's extensive $66m 'Open Up' revamp of the Royal Opera House in London. Photo: Hufton+CrowPhoto: Hufton+CrowPhoto: Luke Hayes View full entry
The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) has announced their upcoming exhibition Design for Good: Architecture for Everyone, curated by John Cary. Opening on September 23, the museum will showcase projects featured in Cary's book Design for Good. Women’s Opportunity Center in Kasungu, Rwanda, by... View full entry
Follow the intricate supply chains of architecture and you’ll find not just product manufacturers but also environmental polluters. Keep going and you’ll find as well the elusive networks of political influence that are underwritten by the billion-dollar construction industry. — Places Journal
In "What You Don't See," Brent Sturlaugson examines the supply chains of architecture to make the case that designers must expand their frameworks of action and responsibility for thinking about sustainability. Unraveling the networks of materials, energy, power, and money that must be... View full entry
Princeton University has tapped Sir David Adjaye to build the school's new art museum. Done in collaboration with local firm Cooper Robertson, it will replace the current museum with a “dramatically enlarged space for the exhibition and study of the museum’s encyclopedic collections, special... View full entry
With flawless blue skies and the latest landmarks of cutting edge design, postcards from across the Soviet Union were miniature propaganda posters for the success of the communist system.
Showcasing brutalist hotels, futurist TV towers, and bold concrete tower blocks, each image is a snapshot of the transformative decades between 1960 and 1990: from the endless optimism of Khrushchev's Thaw, to the closing years of the Cold War.
— calvertjournal.com
These Soviet Union postcards have been collected as part of a book project, Brutal Bloc Postcards, featuring some of the most iconic brutalist landmarks within the Eastern Bloc. Many of these structures are now abandoned, derelict, or completely gone. Take a look at this unique glimpse into the... View full entry
The buildings aren’t the work of celebrated modernist architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe or Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. They bear no resemblance to the towering glass and steel monuments to postwar rationalism that you see downtown. They house doctors’ offices and dry cleaners, furniture stores and accounting firms. Some are vacant, their prim hedges and topiary gone to seed. — chicagomag.com
Architectural photographer and critic Lee Bey discovered a group of quirky modernist buildings on a section of Chicago's Peterson Ave. Overlooked and unkempt, these low-rise gems draw from Southern California's modernist vernacular prompting an unexpected, sunny and 60's nostalgia on... View full entry
Skyscraper owner Blackstone hopes Catalog, the centerpiece of the building's ongoing $668 million renovation, will set off a rush of foot traffic in the southwest corner of the Loop. [...]
Anchoring Catalog will be Willis Tower's first food hall, a 14,000-square-foot location run by London-based food hall operator Urbanspace, as well as dining options Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, Luke's Lobster and Taylor Gourmet.
— Crain's Chicago Business
Earlier this month, The Real Deal put out a monster analysis looking at the biggest property owners across the city based on square footage, along with their annual net operating income.
Their thorough analysis is definitely worth a read, but right here we’re going to give you a breakdown of the top 10 biggest property owners in the city, and some of the projects you might recognize them for.
— ny.curbed.com
Curbed New York has put together a list of the top real estate players in NYC along with some of their notable projects in the city. Below are the top 10 property owners controlling NYC's built environment: 1. The City of New York 2. Vornado Realty Trust 3. SL Green Realty 4. Tishman Speyer... View full entry
On August 13, a brand-new town in Southern California welcomed its first residents [...] on a light-industrial stretch of Main Street in Chula Vista, a San Diego suburb. Then they emerged in Town Square®—a 9,000-square-foot working replica of a 1950s downtown, built and operated by the George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers. Unlike the businesses around it hawking restaurant supplies and tires, Town Square trades in an intangible good: memories. — citylab.com
The new 50's replica town in San Diego is the largest US investment in reminiscence therapy for dementia and age-related cognitive impaired patients. The industrial warehouse has been transformed into a fake town of 14 storefronts complete with a diner, a movie theater, a pet store, a park-like... View full entry
The city will eventually demolish the building to put a 27-story office tower on the site, [costing over] $700 million. Last month, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the Coalition to Preserve LA teamed up to file a petition...that could have forced the city to halt demolition while the case was being decided...But Garcetti has said the building is contaminated with asbestos and unsound seismically. It is also tarnished by its association with dark LAPD history. — Curbed LA
Glasgow's Mackintosh building will definitely be rebuilt, according to Muriel Gray, chairwoman of the Glasgow School of Art's board.
The building was gutted by fire in June, following another blaze in 2014.
The future of the GSA has faced speculation that it could be demolished or turned into a museum.
But Ms Gray, a former student at the school, told BBC Scotland it would be rebuilt as a working art school, saying that was "non-negotiable".
— BBC
The chairwoman of the Glasgow School of Art's board, Muriel Gray, estimates that the rebuilding efforts of the historically significant structure may take four to seven years. Previously: Work to dismantle the dangerous parts of the Mackintosh Building is underwayDue to damage caused by fire... View full entry
Mass Lab has renovated Pinheiro Manso Apartment, located in the center of Porto, Portugal, for an integrated flow of space. The dwelling was previously a disconnected 2 floor typology with small, closed off rooms seeing little sunlight. Pinheiro Manso Apartment by Mass Lab, located in Porto... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles. (Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
At San Francisco's Global Climate Action Summit yesterday, MVRDV presented a report offering 5 recommendations to Bay Area officials on the region’s plans for a resilient future. Their report, titled Too Much + Too Little, was created as part of the NL Resilience Collective. Below are the... View full entry
The department also took Millennium’s managers to task for not being more communicative about the crack and their efforts to find the cause. The department said it “continues to be frustrated with the communication” with the tower’s managers over a variety of issues.
“We often do not find out information about the building until we first receive calls about an issue from the media or read them in a news report,” the department said in its letter Wednesday.
— San Francisco Chronicle
In the ongoing saga of the sinking Millennium Tower, the City of San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection has given the tower's managers until tomorrow to comply with a handful of safety measures, in response to a crack that appeared on a window on the 36th floor earlier this month. If... View full entry