The Armenian pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale has won the Golden Lion for best national pavilion. The pavilion, Armenity, features a group exhibition by 18 diaspora Armenian artists and grandchildren of survivors of the Armenian genocide, who the jury praised for “forming a pavilion based on a people in diaspora, each artist engaging their specific locality as well as their heritage”. [...]
American artist Adrian Piper was awarded Golden Lion for best artist.
— calvertjournal.com
The ruins of an ancient city that have withstood centuries of conflict in the Syrian desert are now facing their greatest threat yet: the militants of the Islamic State.
Activists, officials and citizens of the city say ISIS has launched a prolonged assault on Palmyra, an "oasis in the desert" north of Damascus that the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO says contains the "monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world."
— mashable.com
UPDATE: ISIS militants seize control of ancient Syrian city of PalmyraPreviously View full entry
Lotte World Mall has finally received approval by the Seoul city government to open up its aquarium and movie theater, five months after the facilities were shut down due to safety concerns. [...]
Lotte World Mall has been embroiled in several safety issues since it opened its doors in October. Several construction workers fell to their deaths during the construction of the annexed skyscraper [...].
— Korea JoongAng Daily
Previously:Construction in Seoul’s supertall Lotte World Tower surpasses 100th story – amid safety concernsMysterious Sinkholes Appear Near Construction Site of Supertall Skyscraper in Seoul View full entry
Nick Cecchi penned a review of ‘Lina Bo Bardi: Together’ on view at the Graham Foundation through July 25th. He found the"narrow focus wisely limits Together to investigating the conditions and experiences that helped shape Bo Bardi’s mature approach to architecture...Bo Bardi’s work and... View full entry
We have new technologies in architecture those makes us feel excited when we see them applied on a facade, a roof etc. or simply used for designing. That gives us ideas about what we can design with which technologies. And we honestly believe that designing a building with high ecologic qualities... View full entry
It's official: The Barack Obama Foundation announced today that the Barack Obama Presidential Center will be located on Chicago's South Side, at a site near either Washington Park or Jackson Park. This confirms previous reports hinting at Chicago as the chosen city, winning over alternate... View full entry
KONE has initiated the first stage of elevator and escalator installations at Saudi Arabia’s 1km-tall Kingdom Tower.
The Finnish lift firm is currently fitting elevator guiderails at the project, which is being developed by Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) and is set to become the world’s tallest building on completion.
— constructionweekonline.com
Related: The new elevator technology that will let cities soar far higher View full entry
The current race to the top of the skyline is the most impressive in New York City’s history, with ever-taller skyscrapers sprouting from the Financial District all the way to 57th Street. And YIMBY has now learned that 217 West 57th Street, aka the Nordstrom Tower, received a height boost between April and June of last year, pushing the tower’s pinnacle to 1,795 feet. That will make it the tallest building in New York City, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere. — newyorkyimby.com
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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
The six-story building was designed by Robert Maynicke and completed in 1899. It served as the offices of Germania Bank (and its future names) until it was sold in 1966 and became a private residence. In 2005, it was designated an individual landmark. Last year, it was purchased by Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty for $55 million. They plan to restore the building and convert it back to office space, with the ground floor for an as yet undetermined retail tenant. — New York Yimby
In collaboration with MdeAS Architects, Jørgen Cleemann of the preservation architecture firm Higgins Quasebarth & Partners received approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for their restoration plans. They aim to rehabilitate the stained glass, wooden doors, and other features... View full entry
Seventy years after the end of the war, Berlin is finally filling the last gaps left by Allied bombs, which destroyed more than two-thirds of the buildings in the city center. Architects say the construction boom offers Berlin a chance to make up for decades of bad planning and mediocre architecture. “This is a new time in Berlin,” says Libeskind [...]. “It’s one of the great cities of the world, and we expect it to compete. We don’t expect it to be some backwater.” — bloomberg.com
Previously:OMA wins Axel Springer Berlin HQ competitionBerlin's Alexanderplatz high-rise developments continue to take shapeLondon’s architecture lacks Berlin’s sense of culture, says ChipperfieldBerlin After the Wall: A Microcosm of the World’s Chaotic Change View full entry
Cornell alleges that the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners committed 'architectural malpractice' in its plans for the new wing of the museum, leading to structural deficiencies, cavities in the roof, cracks in the ceiling and other problems. The university says it has suffered 'at least' $1.1 million in damages as a result of the flawed designs. Pei, who also designed the original museum in 1968, was hired by the university to build the addition in 2006. — The Ithaca Voice
Related:Jean Nouvel loses court case over 'sabotaged' Philharmonie de ParisCornell professor declares OMA-designed Milstein Hall "a disaster"Architects can now be held liable for building defects, rules California Supreme Court View full entry
While the museum describes the 42,000-square-foot addition as something that would “further fulfill Henry Clay Frick’s long-standing vision to offer public access to its works of art," others, including a group of 51 prominent artists and architects — Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman [...] among them — think it would undermine exactly what they love about the place.
Under the banner of Unite to Save the Frick, this group sent a letter to the city, copied to the museum, expressing their displeasure.
— vulture.com
Here's the letter that Unite to Save the Frick sent to NYC leaders today:May 6, 2015Dear Mayor de Blasio and Chair Srinivasan:The residential scale of the Frick Collection exerts a special power over those who walk its halls. To have visitors experience the feeling of living with art was the... View full entry
Renzo Piano's versatility continues to win the hearts of NYC developers, and it looks like the starchitect is finally getting his chance to flex his muscle in the residential realm. Piano—who just cut the ribbon to the new Whitney to rave reviews—has been chosen by Michael Shvo and Bizzi & Partners to design a brand new 290-foot tower at 100 Varick Street in up-and-coming Hudson Square bordering Soho. — 6sqft.com
The tower will be Piano's first large-scale residential project in the U.S. View full entry
Mock-ups of the so-called ‘crabots’ are featured in lengthy planning documents submitted to the City of Mountain View Council in Silicon Valley [...]
‘Our objective is to create a solution that can be assembled efficiently and economically within pre-erected canopy structures by means of small, easily manoeuvrable cranes.’
‘Through the life of the buildings this [will] allow reconfiguration and maintenance…of the canopy envelope from within.’
— architectsjournal.co.uk
The new Googleplex campus expansion, designed by BIG and Heatherwick Studios in collaboration to accommodate 20,000 new Mountain View employees, will be constructed by "an army of robot-crane hybrids", the Architect's Journal reports. Citing planning documents Google submitted to Mountain View... View full entry