The City of St. Petersburg is up for attempt #2 in selecting a new architect to redesign the historic St. Petersburg Pier after the first proposal, "The Lens", was met with controversy and never built -- even after revisions were made.In hopes that a new iconic Pier can be built this time... View full entry
As the state has withdrawn, Santiago Cirugeda has stepped in to turn abandoned sites in Seville and other Spanish cities into dramatic art spaces that are inspiring a new breed of architect — theguardian.com
The director of the Museo Reina Sofía, Manuel Borja-Villel, has just announced that Madrid’s main Modern and contemporary art museum will expand its permanent exhibition space by a total of 3,000 sq. m by the end of 2015. In an interview with EFE news agency, Borja-Villel said the project will “finally” join the Francisco Sabatini-designed building, which fully opened as an art museum in 1992, with the extension by Jean Nouvel, completed in 2005. — theartnewspaper.com
When Thomas Paino, an architect, decided to remodel a rowhouse he had bought in Long Island City, Queens, his ambitions were nothing short of trying to save the world — at least so far as a two-family home could contribute to the cause. [...]
And he came up with a daring design in the hopes that neighbors, passers-by, perhaps even the world would take notice.
He succeeded beyond all expectations.
— nytimes.com
Minimalism does smell a little foul these days, ever more commercial, devoted to luxury rather than simplicity, a fantasy of the globalized everywhere. It is the design ethos of a world in which you bounce around a grid of generic places, which all feel familiar because they all have the same stores, the same brands and the same basic design. If you want to look at how this fantasy manifests itself architecturally, visit CityCenterDC [...]. — washingtonpost.com
Despite its echoes of Paris’s architectural past, Frank Gehry’s latest museum project—the Fondation Louis Vuitton, opening this fall in the Bois de Boulogne—is like nothing the city has seen before: muscular and delicate, utilitarian and fantastic, a marriage of cultural ambition and private enterprise. Paul Goldberger looks at the genesis of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault’s partnership with Gehry, and the triumphant result. — vanityfair.com
Previously: Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton to open this October View full entry
Certainly, it's a minor miracle that Epiphany wasn't gutted at some point in its long life to make way for late 20th-century design nightmares such as drop ceilings and wood paneling. But more significantly the church represents an interesting period in Southern California history. — latimes.com
The Church of the Epiphany was an iconic meeting spot for activist groups throughout the 20th century -- including Cesar Chavez, who gave talks there -- and continues to be a valuable community space today. After a 2011 art auction to preserve the aging church, a second benefit auction is... View full entry
Friday, August 15 Farewell to the Old Okura: The famous Hotel Okura, built in the 1960s in a distinctive fusion of modern and traditional Japanese styles, is closing in response to prohibitive earthquake retrofits and larger, newer hotels in the area.Samsung Acquires SmartThings, A Fast-Growing... View full entry
As a report from the Obama administration warns that one in four bridges in the United States needs significant repair or cannot handle automobile traffic, engineers are employing wireless sensors and flying robots that could have the potential to help authorities monitor the condition of bridges in real time. — ScienceDaily
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
News of the planned destruction of the Hotel Okura building in Tokyo to make way for a larger 38-story glass tower has brought cries of protest in Japan and elsewhere in the world. Monocle, the wide-ranging global magazine, has started a petition to save the old Okura on behalf of “all lovers of modern Japanese architecture.” — nytimes.com
Monocle's savetheokura.com petition website is still up, but it seems that the fate of Ol' Okura has been sealed. View full entry
Samsung is making a big push into being the center of the smart home today with its acquisition of SmartThings, which allows people to sync up their connected gadgets onto a single smartphone app and hardware hub. — forbes.com
Looks like Samsung is trying to catch up with Apple's upcoming HomeKit. View full entry
The LEAF Awards are back with a new shortlist. The annual awards highlight projects that are perceived as setting the standard for the international architecture and design community in various categories. Category winners and an overall winner will be announced during the LEAF Awards 2014 at the Swissôtel, Düsseldorf/Neuss in Germany on October 10. — bustler.net
Here's a few of this year's shortlisters.Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
I see nothing wrong with replacing the hegemony of cars with the hegemony I am proposing, of bikes. Those who need buses would be no worse off than they are now. But a problem would come if a city like Amsterdam had a bike modal share of 90 percent, as could achieved if end-of-trip strategies were built into all buildings to eliminate the problem of bike theft, and if shelter removed the inequity of cycling being the one mode remaining where people get wet. — cycle-space.com
Artist and animator Sam Grinberg revisits the fight over the future of the American Folk Art Museum. — ny.curbed.com