Starchitecture is out of fashion these days, but it can still produce visual wonders. The look of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by Jean Nouvel, might be described as Arabic-galactic. In the form of an immense, filigreed gray half-sphere resting on a low base infiltrated by water channels, it could pass as a spaceship, an unfinished mosque or a Venetian pavilion set on the edge of the Persian Gulf. — NYT
Holland Cotter reviews the new building and collection/inaugural installation, of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. 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 profiles!)... View full entry
The Museum of the Bible recently opened in Washington, D.C. packed with screens and interactive exhibits. The 430,000-square-foot building was designed by SmithGroup JJR and cost a total of $500 million. Formerly a refrigerated warehouse, this space has been turned into quite an extravaganza. The... View full entry
The competition for the new Marseille Provence Airport extension recently revealed Foster + Partners as the winning entry. The firm's project will allow the airport to serve up to 12 million passengers per year (excluding the MP2 terminal). Originally built by Fernand Pouillon in the 1960s, Foster... View full entry
The gleaming low white villa was set into the rocks behind it, as though it belonged there, and guests who glanced out of the windows or stepped onto the private balcony of their bedroom would get the impression that it was almost hanging over the blue sea. The swimming pool, considered the best on the Riviera, was housed in a basin blasted out of the rocks and featured a water-chute so that bathers could slide down into the sea below and swim to a raft tethered just offshore. — NYT
Back in October, the Book Review published a trio of reviews, for three newly published house histories. The three homes, well known at least in their time, all belonged to the famous, wealthy or both. First, Sadie Stein reviews Mary S. Lovell's, ritzy Riviera history of the Château de... View full entry
Entering into a new space means stepping into a new acoustic arena. Whether subconscious or at the forefront of our attention, the way sound resonates in a built environment is part of a crafted experience influencing how people relate to a space. The presence of a circle or semi circle in... View full entry
After spending more than 25 years at the Railway Exchange Building, the Chicago Architecture Foundation will be moving to the heart of the city at 111 East Wacker Drive by Summer 2018. Located right by the river where the Foundation hosts its river cruise tours, the expanded space of 20,000 square... View full entry
The stamp, forged signatures, false paperwork — they were like the scaffolding of a building of his own design, one with no firm foundation. — New York Times
A fake architect named Paul J. Newman has been sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in state prison for posing as an architect in eastern New York. Newman also was ordered Tuesday in Saratoga County Court to pay more than $115,000 to his victims in Albany, Rensselaer, and Saratoga counties. Newman... View full entry
Otherwise known as POPS or POPOS, pseudo-public space is often offered up by developers in exchange for the city giving them permission to add more floors or density than the current zoning allows for. An incentive pioneered in NYC's 1961 zoning ordinance revision, today, there are more than... View full entry
Jakarta is perhaps the truest realization of a post-colonial cosmopolis. Many former colonial capitals stage a rivalry between quaint traditional centers and desperation-driven peripheries. But Jakarta can be understood not as a dialogue with its former foreign overlords but rather as a fiercely insistent projection of Indonesian independence. — Places Journal
In his latest article for Places, Joe Day examines the contemporary architecture of Jakarta through the framework of the utopian terms of the Five Pancasilas, the founding principles of modern Indonesia. Day traces the development of Indonesian architecture from founding president Pak Sukarno's... View full entry
Following their research into the Droneport—a project that explores the potential of an ‘infrastructural leap’ using cutting edge technology to surmount the challenges of the future—Foster + Partners is now working with Be Tomorrow UK, the UK arm of a leading autonomous drone software... View full entry
Temple Works, a former flax mill in Leeds, has been listed for sale, in the Pugh auction on December 7th, with a starting price of just one pound according to the Yorkshire Evening Post. The Egyptian-influenced industrial building is one of the city's oldest and most cherished, and is the only... View full entry
Fougeron Architecture, who recently completed the 400 Grove mixed-use in Hayes Valley, has left their mark again in the Bay Area in designing the new Kapor Center for Social Impact headquarters in downtown Oakland. The Kapor Center needed a new collaborative workspace to carry out their mission... View full entry
Tomorrow, Nov. 28, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission will vote to consider calendaring Philip Johnson's AT&T Building for a landmark designation hearing. 550 Madison Avenue, formerly known as the AT&T Building or the Sony Tower, is an iconic postmodern skyscraper located in Manhattan... View full entry
Snøhetta's design for a 775-foot tall condominium tower at 50 West 66th Street calls for a series of sculptural excavations, with several slices up the structure and narrowing upward from its base. According to Wallpaper, the Upper West Side tower developed by Extell... View full entry