Habitat 67—the iconic housing complex designed by Moshe Safdie for Expo 67—turned 50 this year. To commemorate the occasion, we sat down and talked with Safdie about the experience and how it influenced his career. Meanwhile, the Canada Post celebrated the anniversary by unveiling a new... View full entry
While there's no word on what would happen if someone skinned their knee on this bacteria-infused concrete, the premise is certainly intriguing in theory: concrete that patches cracks in itself for up to 200 years after its initial formation. Here's a brief video outlining the process: View full entry
ICYMI, back in April Nicholas Korody published an interview with Bryan MacKay-Lyons and Talbot Sweetapple, about their contextually-sensitive, regionally specific, vernacular. Therein MacKay-Layons explains "The other non-object sense of our work is that we see the buildings as helmets that... View full entry
To snap a photo of the Hollywood sign, tourists have clogged hillside streets and hiking paths, spurring battles in Hollywood Hills neighborhoods and in court over how people should be able to access the iconic landmark.
Now Mayor Eric Garcetti has floated an alternative: Building a gondola to ferry visitors to the beloved sign.
— The Los Angeles Times
Instead of having to evade trespassing laws (or take the long way around), those who want to visit the Hollywood sign up close may be able to simply take an aerial gondola lift if Mayor Eric Garcetti's recent remarks become a reality. As this article notes:Garcetti spokesman George Kivork said in... View full entry
Kenneth A. Himmel, president of Related’s mixed-use division Related Urban, said in a statement, “Exceptional dining experiences are extremely important in curating not only the restaurant collection, but the new neighborhood we are creating, and we are thrilled with the caliber of chefs and restaurateurs that will be coming to Hudson Yards. These chefs and restaurateurs represent the most creative and visionary leaders both in this industry and around the world.” — 6sqft
Yesterday, developers Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group announced that celebrity chef José Andrés would bring a 35,000-square-foot food hall to Hudson Yards.Fresh off the news, they've also released a slew of new renderings of the mega-development's retail and restaurant spaces... View full entry
Both Vienna and Budapest can be viewed as battlefields in an unfolding European crisis of identity and confidence that threatens the continent’s political unity and raises fundamental questions about what exactly it means to be European, to be Europe. Can we read these crises at the level of architecture? — Places Journal
In light of contemporary political turmoil in the region, Owen Hatherley examines key moments in the architectural histories of two quintessentially European cities, from the development of Vienna's monumental public housing to Budapest's experimentation with an ethnonationalist style. View full entry
As he toured facilities for the poor in Ohio last week, Mr. Carson, the neurosurgeon-turned-housing secretary, joked that a relatively well-appointed apartment complex for veterans lacked “only pool tables.” He inquired at one stop whether animals were allowed. At yet another, he nodded, plainly happy, as officials explained how they had stacked dozens of bunk beds inside a homeless shelter and purposefully did not provide televisions. — The New York Times
In a recent visit to a public housing facility in Columbus, Ohio, HUD head Ben Carson reiterated his stance that anyone receiving Section 8 housing vouchers or federal assistance should not get too comfortable, as this would lead them to simply want to stay in their federally provided digs... View full entry
Designing a structure to protect a historic artifact or monument from the elements can often be a dry affair. At their most basic, such structures are often simple tent canopies, or more permanent, but still bare-bone, envelopes. Not the Qianfoya Cliff Inscriptions in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province... View full entry
Formerly a professor and Dean of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, Nancy Pollock-Ellwand will become the Dean of the College of Architecture at the University of Arizona starting July 31st. As University of Arizona Senior Vice President for academic affairs and provost Andrew... View full entry
During Obama's unveiling of plans for his upcoming Presidential Library and Center, the former POTUS revealed his young ambitions of being an architect. During yesterdays events, he proclaimed "I wanted to be an architect when I was a kid. Somehow, I took a wrong turn." Back in June, Obama chose... View full entry
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has had a tough time getting going. After shuffling around potential sites in Chicago, and dealing with some litigation, the art collection and archives of superstar director George Lucas finally found a future home in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park. Now, new... View full entry
If I was a poet, I would speak of Istanbul
If I were a musician, my music would belong to Istanbul
If I was a painter, I would paint Istanbul -Mihail
Prolific French artist JR continues to produce impactful work, following up his latest public exhibition with a special installation of his “Wrinkles of the City” series. First launched in 2008, the series is meant to visually portray the faces affected by gentrification and rapid... View full entry
After being unanimously chosen out of 11 renowned architecture firms, Peter Zumthor presented his vision for the expansion project of the reputable Fondation Beyeler Museum in Riehen, Basel. Joining the original Renzo Piano-designed museum building, the new expansion will provide more room for the... View full entry
Imagine combining the movable gangway employed for airplane passengers with the slender above-ground urban footprint of a subway station, and you have the basic concepts behind Gensler and Dror's proposed underground cruise operation in their masterplan for the Galataport in Istanbul. Using a... View full entry
While the gapahuk (which in Norwegian means "a simple wooden structure with two or three walls and a roof") is not new, Snohetta's conceptualization of it as a multi-terrain, potentially solar-panelled off-the-grid insta-cabin is. The gapahuk has a purposefully tight layout to make it easy to... View full entry
