Energy efficiency among New York City buildings has improved a bit, but almost half of those forced to post a grade are still failing. According to The City’s analysis of preliminary data from the Department of Buildings, 48.3 percent of buildings received either a D or F grade. Receiving a D is essentially the worst a building can do, as Fs are reserved for properties that don’t submit data. — The Real Deal
More than 20,000 buildings exceeding 25,000 square feet were surveyed. As reported by The Real Deal, the share of Ds dropped to 39.2 percent from 44.1 percent from the same time last year, indicating some of the least energy-efficient buildings made improvements. The share of F grades, however... View full entry
It doesn't happen every day that a large piece of urban infrastructure is crowned the globe's best new building design, but at today's closing ceremony of the annual World Architecture Festival, one industrial facility reigned supreme over a shortlist of 200 noteworthy new buildings: CopenHill... View full entry
The first phase of OMA’s POST Houston, a project revitalizing the historic Barbara Jordan Post Office in Houston, Texas, is nearing completion. Finalized areas of the building opened to the public for the first time. Image: OMA / Steve HydeDesigned by OMA Partner Jason Long and OMA New York... View full entry
Will the fire-ravaged interior of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris be more like Disneyland than France’s most emblematic place of worship when it reopens after a major restoration? So fear the outraged critics of a new interior design for the monument which was presented during a video conference earlier this year. — The Art Newspaper
Father Gilles Drouin is the man behind the new interiors, which he says are meant to respond to the multicultural visitorship that was originally not taken into consideration by the church, which spoke to a largely Christian audience before the fire. Critics have panned Drouin’s vision... View full entry
A new lawsuit filed on behalf of victims and family members of the Champlain Towers South collapse alleges that the incident was caused by construction work on an adjacent property. 98 people were killed when the condominium tower in Surfside, Florida collapsed suddenly in the early morning of... View full entry
In a unanimous consent calendar vote, the Council approved a master conditional use permit and a transfer of floor area rights agreement for Olympic tower, which would replace the Downtown Car Wash located at the northwest corner of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street - directly north of L.A. Live. — Urbanize LA
The Olympic Tower development is one of a slate of exuberant high-rise tower projects planned for LA's downtown area in the next decade. The Nardi Associates-designed building will top out at 57 stories and play host to a mixture of hotel accommodations, condos, retail, and 33,500 square feet... View full entry
Malaysia on Tuesday completed the tower spire of the building that’s set to become the world’s second-tallest skyscraper.
The Merdeka 118 will reach a height of 678.9 meters when completed in 2022, the tallest structure after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The project will be an economic catalyst for the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said at a ceremony.
— Bloomberg
The new imposing tower in central Kuala Lumpur was designed by Australian firm Fender Katsalidis Architects. View full entry
As part of the architect’s “long-lived dream of revitalizing Downtown LA’s Grand Avenue corridor,” Frank Gehry and Related Companies have announced the next iteration of their co-design for a one-of-a-kind luxury residential complex beset amongst the city’s civic and cultural... View full entry
A fascinating addition to the Chinese cultural program has come online this week with the completion of OPEN Architecture’s Chapel of Sound in Chengde, Hebei Province. Overlooking the ruins of one of China’s most important historic sites, the Ming Dynasty-era Great Wall, the concert hall... View full entry
A gigantic 12-pointed star was installed on Monday on one of the main towers of the basilica of the Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece that has been a work in progress since 1882. [...]
However, their main anxiety is that the foundation will go ahead with its plan to build an enormous stairway leading up to the basilica’s as-yet-unfinished main entrance which, if fully realised, would entail demolishing three entire city blocks, dislodging about 1,000 families and businesses.
— The Guardian
Opponents have described the installation of the star as "aesthetically horrible" while the Archbishop of Barcelona called it "[a] historic moment after a year of darkness and tireless struggle." The site has lost a considerable amount of money in the past year due to a tourist downturn... View full entry
Orhan Ayyüce kicked off October with a paean/visit to Jay McCafferty and his Hollister Ranch Studio, designed by Coy Howard. Jay McCafferty's Hollister Ranch Studio, designed by Coy Howard via Orhan Ayyüce Plus, "To learn more about the JSI, its history, and its mission" Katherine Guimapang... View full entry
As part of ongoing development authored by the Vanke Research Center in Shenzhen, MVRDV has revealed the completion of a refurbished factory building that will help transform a former industrial site into what it says will be one of the city’s most important community hubs. Located in the... View full entry
A row is developing in Russia after renowned designer Hani Rashid was rather abrasively let go from a contemporary expansion of the State Hermitage Museum in Moscow. The Art Newspaper is reporting that the 63-year-old architect was “unceremoniously” dropped from the museum’s satellite... View full entry
Days after BIG’s conceptual floating city idea was adopted by South Korea, the firm has unveiled its design for the European AI and Cybersecurity Hub on the ESET Campus in Bratislava, Slovakia. The 55,000-square-meter (590,000-square-foot) headquarters consists of twelve individual buildings... View full entry
The more than $150 million renovation of the Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is going to take months — or perhaps more than a year, longer than originally expected; contractors are contending with more asbestos than they expected, as well as other unforeseen challenges. — Colorado Public Radio
The project began in 2019 and is now expected to be pushed back a yet-to-be-determined amount of time away from its original 2023 completion date owing to an unexpected amount of asbestos in addition to other “unforeseen” challenges. The long-overdue restoration is necessary to fix faulty... View full entry
