Only one of the new buildings is ready, its centrepiece artwork had to be dismantled after bits fell off – and people are more excited about getting their first Ikea. [...]
A €155m new station, designed by Santiago Calatrava as a swooping sci-fi bird, is so far no more than a concrete foundation slab. It replaces a much-loved 1950s station by a local architect, and it’s now optimistically scheduled to open in 2018, having escalated to four times its original budget.
— theguardian.com
Related: Libeskind opens his latest building in Belgium today. Is it a snooze? View full entry
2014 was the year of the tall building. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) published its 2014 Tall Building Data Research Report, a statistic-laden round-up that could make your head spin and wonder how much taller a skyscraper can possibly get. Last year, a total of... View full entry
In 2015, Libeskind’s brand of Deconstructivism (and all varieties of Deconstructivism, one might argue) amounts to a familiar, dull architecture; a calcified formal language whose shock-factor and novelty has worn away. One would hope that Libeskind, as a leading architectural practitioner, could at least try to articulate a new agenda in the experimental vein of his earlier work. Alas — as the Mons International Conference Xperience shows — that’s not the case. — blouinartinfo.com
After 13 years of negotiations with the region's Port Authority, work has begun on the Greek Orthodox church that will be the only non-secular building at Ground Zero. Many believe it will become one of the most visited churches in the US. It is planned to be completed by Easter 2017. — bbc.com
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
From the opening of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in October to the construction of The Broad in Los Angeles now set to open this autumn, the model of the single-donor museum is thriving. [...] what will happen to these new institutions on the death of the founder or the decline in their collecting activity. [...]
To what extent have these museum founders made plans to ensure the vitality and flexibility of their prized institutions beyond their own lifetimes?
— theartnewspaper.com
Now millions of pounds are being raised towards returning the Mackintosh to its former glory, with the five shortlisted firms now being invited to detail their plans and make presentations in mid March. A winner will be selected later that month. [...]
The five firms are: Avanti Architects, John McAslan + Partners, LDN Architects LLP, Page \ Park Architects and Purcell.
— dailyrecord.co.uk
The fire that broke out in May of 2014 destroyed much of the Glasgow School of Art's historic library, designed by Scottish architect Charles Mackintosh. Around 70% of the building's contents were saved by firefighters, but the library itself was drastically damaged. Restoration discussions and... View full entry
For decades, L.A.'s skyscrapers have had a decidedly boxy style because of requirements that they have emergency helicopter landing pads on top. That code was changed last year, and some architecture buffs hope to see more creative designs in the future.
The Times long has taken the measure of the Los Angeles skyline, as seen from the observation deck of City Hall. Here's how it has evolved
— latimes.com
Related: The daring men building LA's New Wilshire Grand tower View full entry
The elevator doors snap shut behind Otto Solis and his fellow ironworkers. With a quick shudder, gears kick in for a rattling 90-second ascent through the concrete structure rising at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles.
The men huddle in the confined space. Wearing hard hats, bandannas, kneepads and gloves, they look like gladiators ready to fight.
— latimes.com
Related: Downtown LA to set record for world's largest concrete pour View full entry
Driving through the suburbs of Minsk, photographer Vitus Saloshanka, a Belorusian native who moved away in 2001, was struck by the way in which familiar places had changed. “I saw something I’ve never seen in Minsk before,” he says. “Contrast, social differences.” [...] “The houses represent a new sense of self-awareness in Belorusian society as well as a search for a new cultural identity. Who are we? Where are our roots? How is this expressed in the form of architecture?” — calvertjournal.com
If there’s anything positive to emerge from the current mess, it’s that local advocates like Cary Moon, who warned against building the tunnel in the first place, are commanding attention again. Moon recently took to the pages of the local alt-weekly, the Stranger, to argue that in light of the tunnel project’s spectacular, slow-motion meltdown, the city should explore other options. — streetsblog.org
Previously: In Seattle, a Sinking Feeling About a Troubled Tunnel View full entry
“Penn Station did not make you feel comfortable; it made you feel important.” [...]
Unlike McKim’s monument, today’s Penn Station — where many visitors, both domestic and international, encounter New York City for the first time — certainly does not make you feel important. Comparing the vanished terminal with this tawdry replacement, the Yale architectural historian Vincent Scully once wrote, “One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat.”
— nytimes.com
Previously View full entry
A couple who spent $35,000 building a tiny house-on-wheels to live an eco-friendly life were stunned to find their home-to-be had been towed away by thieves.
Casey Friday and his wife Jessica spent two and a half years building the house themselves from the raw materials so they could reduce their environmental impact.
The 650sqft home... could run on rainwater, compost its waste and get by on 'very little' electricity - but was purloined from its custom-paved driveway in Spring Branch, Texas.
— dailymail.co.uk
It keeps raining fiber-reinforced concrete at Vienna's latest educational facility: A large concrete facade panel weighing 80 kilograms (176 pounds) came crashing down from the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Library and Learning Center at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, reports... View full entry
There's an interesting construction/excavation project going on over in Iceland right now: an artificial tunnel and cave complex being dug into the Langjökull Glacier.
When complete, the publicly accessible infra-glacial facility "will consist of numerous nooks and dens which will house exhibitions, information, restaurants and even a small chapel for those who would like to marry deep within an ice cap."
— bldgblog.blogspot.com