The French architect Jean Nouvel has announced details of his design for the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. [...]
“The National Art Museum of China represents an incredible opportunity for the most ambitious materialisation of a place of expression… a place that witnesses the vitality of a civilisation, the civilisation of the greatest people on earth,” say the organisers.
— theartnewspaper.com
Previously: Jean Nouvel Confirmed as Winner of the National Art Museum of China Competition View full entry
“For 10 or so of these important properties to come on the market at the same time, that matters a lot,” - Gregory J. Heym, an executive vice president and the chief economist for Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens — NYT
Earlier this month Robin Finn, looked at one trend in Manhattan's luxury/high-end real estate market. Given the less than 2,000 single-family homes in Manhattan, a recent influx of historic mansions and townhouses into the market, offers buyers a rare opportunity to avoid co-ops and condos.Some... View full entry
RFR plans to spend $250 million on Manhattan land purchases, up to $500 million on office building deals and $100 million to $150 million more on retailing properties — all before the end of the year. [...]
Perhaps the most under-the-radar purchase was 190 Bowery... Developers have been trying for years to buy the six-story Renaissance Revival structure, which appears abandoned, with blocked-off doorways, boarded-up windows and graffiti covering nearly all of the lower facade.
— nytimes.com
For some more context on 190 Bowery, check out Wendy Goodman's 2008 profile of the family living there. View full entry
190 Bowery is a mystery: a graffiti-covered Gilded Age relic, with a beat-up wooden door that looks like it hasn’t been opened since La Guardia was mayor. [...]
With the Bowery Hotel and the New Museum, the Rogan and John Varvatos boutiques, 190 is now an anomaly, not the norm. Why isn’t some developer turning it into luxury condos?
Because Jay Maisel, the photographer who bought it 42 years ago for $102,000, still lives there, with his wife, Linda Adam Maisel, and daughter, Amanda.
— New York Magazine
This 2008 piece on 190 Bowery is being published for historical context, on the recent occasion of the property being sold to NYC developer, RFR Holdings. View full entry
Charles Chawalko, a recent graduate of Parsons’ Design & Urban Ecologies program, is a resident of Southbridge Towers, a 1,651-unit development that remains in the program. But as he explains below, his cooperative is in the midst of a decision over whether it will join the majority of Mitchell-Lama buildings and leave. To residents of Southbridge Towers, the vote over whether to opt out of Mitchell-Lama transcends the citywide conversation on affordable housing [...]. — urbanomnibus.net
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 Garage Museum of Contemporary Art announced yesterday that its forthcoming permanent home inside the Soviet-era eatery in the capital’s central Gorky Park is due to open in June 2015. [...]
And Rem Koolhaas, who was tasked with transforming the abandoned restaurant's ruin for the museum, is leaving it largely untouched.
— blouinartinfo.com
A Mexican federal agency has denied the environmental permit to allow the construction of the $105m International Baroque Museum in Puebla, less than a month after the groundbreaking ceremony.
The project, designed by the Japanese architect and 2013 Pritzker Prize-winner Toyo Ito, was deemed “not applicable” by Semarnat’s (the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources) General Directorate of Environmental Impact and Risk.
— theartnewspaper.com
After Qatar Rail appointed UNStudio as principal architect, the Dutch firm revealed their designs for the new Doha Metro Network, a major component of the Qatar Integrated Railway Project (QIRP). In an effort to motivate more Doha locals to use public transit, UNStudio's design of the Metro Network consists of traditional Qatari-inspired elements and four transportation lines — with an estimate of 35 stations for Phase 1, followed by around 60 stations for Phase 2. — bustler.net
Quite interesting that UNStudio released these designs at a time when Qatar has been making headlines as of late...Read more about the project on Bustler. View full entry
Hot off the purchase of $85 million in air rights, and with a new construction loan of $860 million in tow, developer Hines is back on track to bring the Jean Nouvel-designed MoMA residential tower to fruition. Hines just closed on two deals to buy more than 240,000 square feet of development rights from MoMA and the St. Thomas Episcopal Church for $85.3 million. — 6sqft
After being stalled for seven years, construction on Jean Nouvel's MoMA tower will begin this year. The tower has shrunk about 200 feet since it was first unveiled, but the design remains wholly the same. Funding and the acquisition of new air rights are what's brining the project, more than a... View full entry
Conditions that have been agreed are relentlessly renegotiated at reserved matters stage. Good architects are employed to win outline planning, then ditched for a cheaper alternative; high-quality materials are substituted for flimsy plastic panels – all in the name of viability. — the guardian
The song remains the same, and you know your favorite Pritzker Prize'rs are involved in them.It is usually the floodgate scheme; “Once an outline permission is granted, it makes it very difficult for us to refuse a scheme further down the line,” says one officer. In Stratford... View full entry
Discover the Villa Savoye as you've never seen it before, through the discipline of Parkour and the movements of traceurs !
Le Corbusier, the real grandfather of hip-hop, could also be the inspiration behind the parkour? View full entry
"In the late 1920s, Le Corbusier created a plan for Paris," Ford says. "Its most celebrated portion was called 'Towers in the Park.' [...]
Think unremarkable, high-rise apartment buildings. Think low-income housing projects. [...]
"Many of hip-hop's most prominent artists were born, raised, and perfected their crafts in those very same housing projects. Hip-hop was a result of the economical, political, and sociological deprivations instituted by the housing projects across America."
— metrotimes.com
The conceptual storefront Prada Marfa, 2005, by Elmgreen & Dragset, has a new lease on life. The Texas Department of Transportation reached an agreement last week with the foundation Ballroom Marfa to preserve the sculpture after nearly one year of negotiations. The government threatened to shut down the work because it could be considered an illegal roadside advertisement under state law. [...] the foundation plans to lease the land underneath Prada Marfa and register it as an art museum. — theartnewspaper.com
Previously: Prada Marfa declared an illegal outdoor advertisement, faces possible removal View full entry
Cummins Inc. announced Tuesday morning that it has selected New York-based Deborah Berke Partners to design its global distribution headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. — Indianapolis Business Journal
Cummins Inc. has an important history of working with significant architects in Columbus, Indiana, the small Midwestern city where it is located. In selecting Deborah Berke Partners for its new global headquarters in downtown Indianapolis the company commits to fostering excellent design in the... View full entry