Notre-Dame Cathedral's spire will be back in place by the end of the year, but a full reopening following the devastating fire of 2019 will not happen before next year's Paris Olympic Games.
The reconstruction is still on track for completion by the end of 2024, the culture ministry told AFP.
But the sharp spire, added by architect Eugene Viollet-Le-Duc during the cathedral's redesign in the 19th century, will be back in place by the end of 2023, the ministry said.
— France 24
This setback constitutes a major blow to French President Emmanuel Macron’s lofty initial promise to have the restoration work completed in time for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. Spectators had called into question whether or not the goal was feasible or even salutary from the... View full entry
Retrofitting the UK’s historical buildings, from Georgian townhouses to the mills and factories that kickstarted the Industrial Revolution, could generate £35bn of economic output a year, create jobs and play a crucial role in achieving climate targets, research has found.
The organisations behind the report are calling on the government to work with industry to [...] advice into a national retrofit strategy, as the UK only has half the skilled workers needed to retrofit all old buildings.
— The Guardian
The report from a consortium that includes the National Trust, Historic England, and property group Grosvenor also outlined Britain’s need for 105,000 additional skilled workers to help meet the country’s lagging 2050 net zero decarbonization goals. By that time, the retrofitting market is... View full entry
London-based [Y/N] Studio has just released photos of its new Bradbury Works retrofit commercial project in the Dalston neighborhood of the city's Hackney borough. Located in Gillett Square, the scheme refurbished existing workspaces in a Victorian-era brick masonry building while adding... View full entry
A 42-story building under construction in Hong Kong caught fire late Thursday, showering a bustling shopping district with sparks and debris and lighting up the nighttime sky.
Onlookers flocked to the waterfront neighborhood of Tsim Sha Tsui to take in the spectacle, as the flames made their way through the skyscraper and the scaffolding around it and explosions pierced the air.
— The New York Times
The sight lasted for a period of 9 hours before emergency workers finally extinguished the blaze. Only two injuries were reported by Friday evening. View full entry
[...] the company’s decision made public on Friday to pause plans in Virginia — about four years after Amazon pulled out of its campus in New York — is the latest reminder that the tech industry’s long boom has slowed. [...]
The pause will affect PenPlace, the second and larger stage, which would build a mix of office towers, open space and a signature, spiraling glass building Amazon calls the Helix.
— The New York Times
The move comes after Amazon reported its first unprofitable year since 2014. The helix-shaped, $2.5 billion biophilia-lined PenPlace design had only been greenlit in August and is contracted to NBBJ. Amazon had said its construction would cost another $5 billion. The company began cutting some... View full entry
Copenhagen-based 3XN has been included in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2023 list. The 50-company-strong list is described by Fast Company as the “definitive chronicle of the novel ideas transforming business and society,” ranging from ChatGPT creator OpenAI to the art collective... View full entry
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has just revealed the initial plans for its new Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery project led by Selldorf Architects, Diamond Schmitt, and Two Row Architect. The 40,000-square-foot addition will add 13 galleries in order to expand its total exhibition... View full entry
Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to approve a motion requiring all non-ductile, concrete high-rise structures in LA County to be given seismic retrofits within the next ten years. The motion applies to all incorporated communities in the county and must be codified by... View full entry
Przemek Olczyk, Warsaw-based architect and founder of Mobius Architekci, has published photographs of their completed Circle Wood project in the Kampinos National Park outside the Polish capital. Commissioned by an art lover and collector, the home seeks to capture the aura of an... View full entry
Last week marked the topping out ceremony for BIG’s new $600 million Wildflower Studios venture in Astoria, Queens. Backed by actor Robert De Niro, the project transformed the famous site of the former five-acre Steinway Pianos warehouse into a seven-story and 760,000-square-foot comprehensive... View full entry
This week, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is debuting a new civic landmark for the Kansas City area they claim will also set a new benchmark for inclusive design in transportation architecture while bringing its 51-year-old airport “far into the future.” The new, 39-gate terminal comes with... View full entry
The catastrophic events have devastated countless heritage structures, archaeological areas and religious sites, many still active places of worship, across an area so vast that it encompasses ten Turkish provinces and impacts more than 13 million people.
Though less extensively reported, damage to heritage sites is most significant in the southernmost province of Hatay. The city centre of Antakya [...] has been almost completely flattened.
— The Art Newspaper
The World Bank estimates the total physical damage in Turkey to be approximately $34.2 billion. The Gaziantep Castle, a 2nd-century fortress later expanded under Emperor Justinian, and Aleppo's ancient Citadel in neighboring Syria are perhaps the most significant historic sites to be heavily... View full entry
Heatherwick Studio has revealed the design for the first school project in the practice’s history. Situated in Tokyo, The British School seeks to be the largest international school in the city when it opens in August 2023. The 16,000-square-foot scheme is spread across eight levels and features... View full entry
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the $4.2 billion Terminal 6 project at JFK Airport. This is the final piece of the JFK Vision Plan, the airport’s major, multi-year initiative to redevelop... View full entry
Frank Lloyd Wright’s California seaside project, Mrs. Clinton Walker House, has sold for $22 million after being listed on the market in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, according to the Wall Street Journal. The 1,400-square-foot home was completed in 1952 for a wealthy widower residing in... View full entry