Bruce Katz, vice president of the Brookings Institution, says that many American cities show promising signs of renewal. He's written a book with Brookings Fellow Jennifer Bradley called The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy. The book argues that metro areas — or, cities and suburbs together — are powerful economic engines with considerable political influence... — npr.org
Chinese cities have recently become notorious for their sheer degree of copying and reproduction, with hundreds of replicas of famous historic buildings and even of recent ones – such as the copy of Zaha Hadid's Guangzhou Opera House, under construction almost immediately after the original was completed. But in London, the Crystal Palace replica is only the most vast – and probably the least likely – of a smaller but still significant series of proposed reconstructions. — guardian.co.uk
The [RIO DE JANEIRO] Symbolic World Cup Structure competition has announced its winners. Hosted by [AC-CA], the international ideas competition invited architects and students of architecture and engineering to design a freestanding World Cup Structure on Rio de Janeiro's lively Lapa Square during the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup. — bustler.net
Related: Mekene Architecture’s Winning [RIO DE JANEIRO] Symbolic World Cup Structure Entry View full entry
It often happens that news events create a new context for existing photo projects, and such is the case with Philip Jarmain’s photos of Detroit in light of the city’s recent filing for bankruptcy. Jarmain’s series American Beauty documents architecture from a pre-Depression era Detroit — a time when the city was on the rise. They now stand in contrast to its current rock-bottom economic straits. — wired.com
The opening of Work Towards Fairness by architect Eric Moed signifies the first step towards the restoration of Casa do Passal in central Portugal. The Casa do Passal was formerly inhabited by Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who helped around 30,000 people escape into neutral... View full entry
Architectural plans for a $200m airport on North Korea’s east coast have been made available to NK News by PLT, a Hong Kong-based architectural firm bidding to design what North Korea hopes will serve as a major transportation hub for the Kumgang Tourism Zone (KTZ). — nknews.org
The public is invited to vote for their favorite entry from a field of six finalists in the Flinders Street Station Design Competition, an international, high-profile architectural competition to rejuvenate and restore the historic Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Australia. The shortlist sports some big names, including Pritzker Prize winners Zaha Hadid and the team of Jaques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. — bustler.net
Voting opened this week and is accessible via the competition website until Monday, August 5th, 2013. UPDATE: HASSELL + Herzog & de Meuron Win Flinders Street Station Competition View full entry
Yesterday, led by Speaker Christine Quinn, the New York City Council voted to limit Madison Square Garden’s permit to operate on top of Penn Station to just 10 more years.
Building a new Penn Station and the next Madison Square Garden will not only improve the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who use the station every day – it will revitalize the surrounding area and bring tremendous long-term economic value to the region.
— mas.org
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 profiles!)... View full entry
Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey built the Aluminaire House in 1931 for an exhibition in New York City mostly out of mass-produced building materials donated by manufacturers. The project became recognized as an exemplary prototype of modern building forms and techniques at the time, while also... View full entry
Finalists have been announced today for Ground/Work: A Design Competition for Van Alen Institute’s New Street-Level Space. The challenge invited emerging designers, up to ten years out of school, to design Van Alen’s new street-level work space and public venue at 30 West 22nd Street in Manhattan. Three finalist teams were selected from a pool of over 120 teams answering the recent Call for Portfolios. — bustler.net
Previously: Ground/Work: A Design Competition for Van Alen Institute’s New Street-Level Space UPDATE: Ground/Work finalist teams reveal their designs for Van Alen Institute’s new street-level space UPDATE: Collective–LOK Wins Van Alen Institute’s Ground/Work Competition View full entry
Jean Nouvel has won the prestigious competition to design the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. — bustler.net
Previously on Archinect: Jean Nouvel Said To Edge Gehry, Hadid For Beijing Museum Job FT discusses Nouvel's design for the National Art Museum of China National Art Museum of China Entry by Gehry Partners National Art Museum of China Entry by MAD View full entry
Esteemed Chicago architect Jeanne Gang unveiled the design plan for the new University of Chicago North Campus Residence Hall and Dining Commons this past Tuesday. Created by Studio Gang Architects and Mortenson Construction, the stunning $148 million project is expected to open in the fall of... View full entry
I was amazed at the sort of uncanny way in which his work tracks the arc of gay liberation, like early 60s pavillions that provided refuge from a hostile world and then as you go through the 60s and into the Stonewall period the houses become literally open and voyeuristic. Full glass facades facing the ocean - Christopher Rawlins — BBC News Magazine
Leigh Paterson visited Fire Island and talked with Christopher Rawlins author of a new book, Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction. The two discussed the culture of this gay community and the work of this relatively unknown modernist architect, who helped... View full entry
Helsinki-based VERSTAS Architects has shared with us the beautiful Saunalahti Comprehensive School project in Espoo, Finland's second largest city. The school building, completed last fall, was the result of an open architecture competition in 2007 which VERSTAS Architects won. — bustler.net
At the core of the design process for Saunalahti School stood the question of, primarily, how the physical school environment effects the learning results, and secondly, if a school building could also serve the larger audience as well. – Crucial thoughts considering the continuously... View full entry