One of the strangest places in Hungary lies beside the Tisza River in a village called Gergelyiugornya. Hugged by a bend in the river, it’s a relatively narrow, woody flood basin area packed with small cottages that show an incredibly wide variety of architectural designs and creativity. [...]
Most of these houses were built in the 80s, when the workers of socialist Hungary were allowed to build for themselves on small plots of land.
— Gizmodo
All photos by Attila Nagy. Head over to Gizmodo to continue the architectural walking tour through Gergelyiugornya village and discover more goodies. View full entry
Many have challenged the logic of a Swiss building in Los Angeles [...]
In a sense, all of the criticisms can be boiled down to a single accusation: quality architecture does not belong in Los Angeles. [...]
Contextualism in Los Angeles requires more innovation than matching roof heights or aligning cornices; its ecology is one of large and oversized cultural objects that act as signposts amid sprawl.
— lareviewofbooks.org
Situating LACMA in "master builder" Peter Zumthor's career overall, architects Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee (of the LA-based firm Johnston Marklee) discuss what distinguishes his work in a city with a somewhat confused attitude towards icons and context.More on Zumthor's LACMA:Is Zumthor's... View full entry
The neighborhood — a central district that was dismantled by the Nazis, battered by Allied bombs and radically reconfigured by postwar architects — has foiled urban planners, exasperated patrons of the arts and demoralized generations of Berliners intent on seeing their city made once more into a cohesive whole. [...]
Many are hoping that all that strife is in the past now that a new museum of modern art will be built in the much-maligned arts quarter.
— nytimes.com
In recent Berlin news on Archinect: Berlin's world-class museums struggle to build up excitementBerlin lists communist-era towers of Alexanderplatz as historical monuments; Gehry high-rise still happeningHerzog & de Meuron to redevelop Berlin’s infamous Tacheles cultural center; locals fear... View full entry
The competition for the premier high-profile commission is expected to draw the interest of the leading “starchitects” across the globe.
The foundation has stated in earlier documents associated with the site selection competition that the “unified design vision” calls for the building to be a “responsible steward of the environment” and one that “embodies principles of biomimicry to create a living building.”
— chicago.suntimes.com
More on Obama's presidential center:Chicago will indeed be the home of the Obama Presidential CenterUniversity of Chicago will reportedly win race for Obama Presidential Library2014 Chicago Prize winners envision the Obama Presidential LibraryCALL FOR ENTRIES: What do you think the Obama... 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
Next week, the concrete pour will begin on Zaha Hadid Architect's new residential tower overlooking downtown Miami's Museum Park. The 62-floor tower, located at 1000 Biscayne Blvd., includes "museum-quality" town homes and three degrees of penthouses: half-floor, full-floor and single duplex. The... View full entry
Instead of being mainly a weight distribution problem for architects, library book stacks are increasingly becoming art installations in cavernous contemplation halls. This is especially evident in Wolfgang Tschapeller's renderings for the Ho Fine Arts Library at Cornell University, in which an... View full entry
This 21st century trend started with Sweden's 2005 Turning Torso building, then quickly was adapted and modified by Frank Gehry for what became 2011's 8 Spruce Street in Manhattan. Now the twisted apartment building seems to have become its own typology, to judge by recent proposed works by... View full entry
Like all supertall skyscrapers, Tapei 101 has a mechanism inside to help stabilize itself in high winds. [...]
At 6:59 am, in the winds of Typhoon Soudelor, the damper moved by a full meter from its center position, farther than it has ever moved in the building's decade history. [...]
Soudelor brought sustained winds of 100 mph, with at least one confirmed gust of 145 mph .
— popularmechanics.com
Lafayette Park, the neighborhood northeast of downtown dotted with high-rises and townhouses, and known for its modern architecture, has attained the status of national historic landmark. [...]
The neighborhood consists of a 78-acre housing development designed and realized by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, considered a master of modern architecture. It was founded by developer Herb Greenwald to help keep the middle class in the city.
— The Detroit News
The three other sites that also recently gained landmark status are:George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, VirginiaRed Rocks Park and Mount Morrison Civilian Conservation Corps Camp in Jefferson County, ColoradoFirst Peoples Buffalo Jump in Cascade County, MontanaMvdR-related... View full entry
The published renderings that accompanied the announcement were not terribly reassuring, as they depicted a very long curved terminal with gangly tentacles raised over plane taxiways that hinted at torsos of praying mantises: an awkward rather than a graceful vault. — 6sqft.com
Related: A new LaGuardia is the "airport that New York deserves", says Gov. Cuomo View full entry
Julia Ingalls reviewed "Work on Work" the current exhibition at Los Angeles’ Architecture + Design Museum, co-organized by Gensler and UCLA’s cityLAB. Therein she writes "This feeling of being at an un-airconditioned business conference is not helped by the next section of the exhibit, in... View full entry
According to the New York Times, the event cost around $1 million to produce and involved 40 stacked 20,000-lumen projectors on the roof of a building on West 31st Street that beamed 5K resolution video onto a space covering 33 floors — roughly 375 feet high and 186 feet wide. — HyperAllergic.com
The Empire State Building took a breather from being an icon last Saturday, and instead became the canvas for a series of projected images of endangered species and other trippy imagery. The event was part of "Projecting Change," an awareness-raising project thought up by noted National Geographic... View full entry
The recent real-life sale of the character Jesse's house from the TV series "Breaking Bad" is a reminder of how many single-family properties have become cinematic icons (and how it's tricky for private residents to live in such public locales). Although the new owners of Jesse's house will... View full entry
Construction of the Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 World Trade Center will come with a $4 billion price tag. The 2.8 million-square-foot downtown tower will top out at 1,340 feet, just 28 feet shy of One World Trade Center, which currently holds the title of the world’s most expensive office building with construction costs coming in at $3.8 billion. — 6sqft
Larry Silverstein, developer of 2 World Trade Center, is looking for $500 million in financing to fund the $4 billion tower’s completion. If all goes according to plan, a lease could be signed by the end of the year and construction could start next year with a 2020 completion date. View full entry