work has finally started on an ambitious £335m redevelopment of Merseyside’s largest hospital. And the ambition is not simply to tackle a building that has outstayed its usefulness; it is to make the whole city healthier and wealthier too. [...]
In place of the current “American suburban” model of a huge building and surrounding parking, it will return to a “European” model of a cluster of buildings with public spaces in between them [...]
“The centre will feel like a public square.
— theguardian.com
More renovations from the healthcare sector:Perkins+Will selected to design Northwestern University Research Building on old Prentice siteSick people in Scandinavia can check into these "patient hotels" as hospital alternativesConstruction kicks off for Steven Holl-designed Maggie's Centre Barts... View full entry
...it's tempting to turn cartwheels over the Chicago City Council's vote to grant permanent landmark status to Marina City, the city within a city best known for its iconic corncob-shaped towers.
Marina City was a landmark building that lacked official landmark status and was therefore vulnerable — if not to demolition, then to insensitive additions that chipped away at the sculpted beauty of its curving concrete.
— Chicago Tribune
Since the process began last July, Chicago City Council unanimously voted 48-0 (with the absence of two aldermen) to designate Bertrand Goldberg's midcentury icon as a historic city landmark as of Wednesday, according to Loop North News."Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, deserves credit for championing... View full entry
A ceremonial groundbreaking on February 6 marked the official kick off for construction of the ambitious Norton Museum of Art expansion in West Palm Beach, Florida. The event went hand-in-hand with the annual gala later that day celebrating the Museum’s 75th anniversary. Lord Foster, design... View full entry
Back in January, Justine Testado reviewed “HOME(less)” a photo exhibition at USC, co-curated by local designers and Colorblock partners Sofia Borges and Susan Nwankpa. Christopher Perrodin was impressed "This is very thoughtful, playful and ultimately humanizing. Good job." Plus, Julia... View full entry
Three Taiwanese construction company executives have been detained on charges of professional negligence resulting in death following the collapse of an apartment building that killed dozens.
The district prosecutor's office in the city of Tainan said [...] that Lin Ming-hui and architects Chang Kui-an and Cheng Chin-kui were suspected of having overseen shoddy construction of the 17-story Weiguan Golden Dragon building, which crashed onto its side following an earthquake Saturday.
— america.aljazeera.com
Previously in the Archinect news: Taiwan earthquake: tin cans found as fillers may have caused high-rise to collapse View full entry
Designed by Playtime Agence d'Architecture, this 45 square meter glass and pre-lacquered white aluminium extension of a traditional French house is striking without being out of place.Landscape features heavily in the design's conception: built in order to have "architecture and nature dialogue... View full entry
Despite the themes of the video, nothing was shot in New Orleans...The concept and quick turnaround required Tobman and the rest of the crew to convert [the Fenyes Mansion in Pasadena into a] fitting Southern Gothic set...A Beaux Arts mansion commissioned by and built for Dr. Adalbert Fenyes and his wife Eva Scott Muse Fenyes in 1905, there was nothing really Southern about architect Robert D. Farquhar's design — Curbed
If you're still bumpin' the Queen Bey's latest hard-hitting single, get a glimpse of the history behind the Fenyes Mansion in Pasadena, where parts of the song's impressive music video were filmed.More music-related goodness on Archinect:LA mayor Eric Garcetti slow-jams 101 freeway closure... View full entry
The Society of Architectural Historians has received a $123,000 grant from the Alphawood Foundation to hire Harboe Architects to develop a conservation management plan for Charnley-Persky House. Designed by Adler and Sullivan in 1891–1892 when Frank Lloyd Wright was an apprentice in their... View full entry
MCP: How would you characterize the President and First Lady’s architectural taste, as best as you can tell up to this point?
PG: Modern and refined. They like modern things quite genuinely. They do not want a traditional building... there’s a certain kind of, let’s say tailored modernism, that they respond best to. But they’re interested in a range of things, and they’re also very interested, as they should be, in somebody who they will feel comfortable talking to.
— commonedge.org
Paul Goldberger was first offered to advise the Obama Foundation in the selection of the Presidential Center's architect by Penny Pritzker, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who also happens to be the niece of Jay Pritzker – founder of the Pritzker Prize in 1979.Get caught up on the selection... View full entry
Santiago Calatrava won the competition to design an observation tower for the Dubai Creek Harbor development in the city...Calatrava's winning design was met with approval this past weekend from Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the [UAE] and Ruler of Dubai. 'This architectural wonder will be as great as the Burj Khalifa and the Eiffel Tower,' he commented on Calatrava's proposal. — Bustler
Thoughts? You can also find more images of the project on Bustler. View full entry
The New York cityscape might get another tower from Bjarke Ingels. At 1,005 feet, "The Spiral" is a new office building proposed to fill up an entire block on 66 Hudson Boulevard in Manhattan's West Side. The concept was unveiled today. The 65-story Spiral is set to be the fourth tallest... View full entry
Although aluminum siding is available that resembles wooden clapboards, the recently built or renovated homes with metal facades of Kings County, N.Y., tend to have a funky, artistic sensibility. The idea is not to mimic traditional construction, but to be proudly metallic. — NYT
Kaya Laterman talks with architects, architectural designers, homeowners and neighbors on the cutting edge of a new Brooklyn trend. View full entry
Fittingly for Furniture February, Alvar Aalto would have turned 118 this month, which has prompted Archinect to celebrate his paradigm-defining designs. We're not the only ones: the existing Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland will be getting an extension (the winners of the... View full entry
Across Syria, where a seemingly unstoppable war is about to enter a third year, a heritage built over 5,000 years or more is being steadily buried under rubble. — The Guardian
Related:What Does the Syrian Refugee Crisis Mean to Architecture?The new Monument Men: with 3D cameras and GPS data against cultural annihilation in Syria and beyondTo preserve cultural memory, these Syrian refugees recreate lost monuments in miniature View full entry
An 80-storey ‘Dynamic Tower’ will be standing in Dubai by 2020 is everything goes to plan, architectural firm Dynamic Group has told us. When built it will be the world’s first skyscraper consisting of separate rotating floors attached to a central column, and inside there will be luxury apartments (natch).
If you’re wondering what a rotating skyscraper actually is, it’s very much as the name suggests. [...] control the rotation speed and direction of their apartment through voice activation.
— whatson.ae
"Proposed back in 2008 by architect David Fisher, the tower aims to be 420m tall, which would make it the second tallest building in Dubai, as well as the second tallest residential tower in the world behind New York’s 432 Park Avenue (which stands at 425.5m)."Related stories in the Archinect... View full entry
