Another measure for a work of art might be the range and violence of criticisms it attracts, along with their contradictions. — The Bauhaus: S/M/L
Maybe I’m just being sentimental, but I keep finding myself returning to the Bauhaus, now approaching its centenary. Much has been written here about the narrowness of current architecture and its instruction. I’m an outsider, yet I can’t help wondering if the field has followed the path of... View full entry
The new Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay (ISMO) was recently completed by Dutch firm KAAN Architecten. The institute moved into their new building as part of the Université Paris-Saclay's future campus in Orsay, France. Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay (ISMO) by KAAN... View full entry
Gehry likens his creative process to jazz, a fluid, always-evolving symphony of ideas, as he describes it. A main intention with Disney Hall, he says, was the relationships, or rhythms, between the different entities of people inside the hall, also ever-shifting. [...]
Sherman said that there’s no concrete timeline in place for making such changes to Disney Hall. But that “any changes could potentially be in sync with the opening of the Grand.
— Los Angeles Times
Frank Gehry talks about his early visions for the Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as what future changes — both within and around the landmark — are being planned, especially once his nearly $1 billion mixed-use complex, The Grand, is built. View full entry
This is the era of the glass and steel airport. As if made from the same mold, shiny, glittering terminals have become a status symbol for any city with aspirations. But all of this is a world away from the remoteness of Russia's Arctic regions and the Siberian wilderness [...] built in the mid-20th century when the Soviet Union saw in air transport a way to expand the state's reach to every corner of its territory, even if that meant little more than a dirt runway and a radio shack. — cnn.com
A collection of Russia's historic wooden airports are the antithesis of our current experience of most urban airports. Rather than immense glass and steel constructions, these old structures are made of simplistic wooden designs. While many may look dilapidated, several are still in operation... View full entry
David Chipperfield Architects recently completed Selfridges Duke Street, a new entrance building and accessories hall for the Selfridges department store in London. The new Duke Street entrance by David Chipperfield Architects, located in London. © Simon MengesThe department store is housed in... View full entry
A new social housing project by Hardel Le Bihan Architectes was recently completed this year in Paris near the Clignancourt University campus. The 63 housing unit structure is part of a larger development comprised of two apartment buildings and a university cafeteria. Croisset Social Housing by... View full entry
Phoenix, Arizona–based developer Zach Rawling bought a Frank Lloyd Wright–designed house for $2.3 million in 2012, when its previous owner wanted to demolish the landmark. In 2017, Rawlings donated the David and Gladys Wright House to the Taliesin West School of Architecture, but in June of this year, Rawlings and Aaron Betsky, the architecture school dean, announced in a joint statement that the donation was being revoked due to fundraising concerns. — artforum.com
Image via davidwrighthouse.org.In their joint statement, Aaron Betsky and Zach Rawling wrote: The relationship between the School and the House is formally manifested in the David Wright House Collaborative Fund, a supporting organization of the Arizona Community Foundation. The principal focus of... View full entry
While normally used by online gamers to create a generated world for exploration and combat, the world-building computer game Minecraft has been noted for its architectural capabilities. BlockWorks, a design studio in the UK, uses the game as a design tool to create materials for marketing... View full entry
3D-printed construction seems a good fit for the military. The emerging technology is relatively portable and inexpensive, and could potentially even save lives if it means soldiers receive a safe barracks in a shorter time. With this in mind, the US Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) recently constructed a prototype concrete barracks in under two days with what it calls the world's largest 3D printer. — New Atlas
The US military 3D printed a basic barracks hut measuring 500 sq ft in just 40 hours at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Champaign, Illinois. The MCSC reported this technology reduced construction time from what would typically take 10 Marines 5 days to build a similar... View full entry
Sophia Bannert worried Is the Rigidity of the Architectural Profession Constraining Innovation? For his part, Jason Buchheit found a problem or three with the piece "I'm going to be more pointed. Fundamentally I think your core argument is correct. The current model of architectural education... View full entry
On August 24, 2018, the Atlanta Fulton Central Library was unanimously nominated to the National Register of Historic Places and listed on the Georgia Register of Historic Places by the Georgia National Register Review Board. It will now be sent to the National Park Service for listing on the National Register. Fulton County spoke in opposition to the nomination. [...]
Atlanta’s Central Library is currently closed for extensive renovations.
— Docomomo US
Previously: Central Atlanta Library: debate over adding windows to 'dark' Marcel Breuer building View full entry
The opening allows for the “Way of Light” to pass through the main hub of the transit hall at 10:28 a.m.—the moment that the North Tower of the WTC collapsed on September 11, 2001. The path along which the light travels inside the hall symbolizes “the light that continues to shine through after the darkness of the tragedy,” says a spokesperson for the Oculus. — Curbed NY
A large crack formed in a window at the sinking and tilting Millennium Tower over the Labor Day weekend, prompting officials there to block off part of the sidewalk on Mission Street as a precaution, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned. City inspectors issued a notice of violation on Tuesday, giving the Millennium management 72 hours to report back on the extent of the problem and the soundness of the building’s façade in light of the failure. — nbcbayarea.com
The latest safety concern over San Francisco's sinking Millennium Tower occurred Labor Day weekend when residents heard creaking sounds followed by a loud popping noise in the building. Soon after the incident a resident living on the 36th floor found a crack in his window. The high rise is... View full entry
In Miami, Arquitectonica took up these newfound freedoms with gusto, and did it differently than almost anyone else, deploying architectural elements in evocative, surreal, and highly charismatic ways that might have had little to do with the threadbare functionalist arguments of late Modernism, but functioned brilliantly upon the imagination of the press, Miamians, and clients alike. — citylab.com
Adam Nathaniel Furman takes a closer look at the meteoric rise of Laurinda Spear and Bernardo Fort-Brescia's firm Arquitectonica and the undeniable influence it has had on Miami's architecture since the late 1970s. Although the founders rejected the 'Postmodern' label, "these buildings came to... View full entry
But so far, things have remained “on schedule,” and the Olympic stadium is on pace to be completed by the end of next year. [...]
Takeo Takahashi, the general manager of the stadium project, told the media that “roughly four-tenths” of the construction has been completed, but the situation is “as planned.”
— The Japan Times
It's been deliberately quiet around the NEW New National Stadium in Tokyo after the original, winning design by Zaha Hadid Architects was publicly attacked, and eventually officially canceled by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe himself, and a replacement Olympic Stadium scheme was hastily selected from a... View full entry
