The City of London skyline is to be dominated by a newcomer after the latest version of a tower formerly known as the Pinnacle or Helter Skelter received the green light from planners.

The revived building, officially known as 22 Bishopsgate – or simply 22 – will be the tallest building in the Square Mile at 278 metres (912ft) [...].

The new design scrapping the expensive curved-glass panels at the top was the work of PLP Architecture. — theguardian.com

A persistent water leak is among the problems that have delayed the opening of the mall, which was supposed to be operating by now, to the first half of 2016. It is the latest setback to bedevil the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the $3.7 billion rail terminal that will also house Westfield’s $1.4 billion shopping center. [...]

The latest twist involves water penetration around the construction site of 3 World Trade Center, an office tower abutting the hub, which began in late summer. — nytimes.com

This is The Oppidum, a massive 323,000 square foot property with plans for a spectacular estate. What lies hidden beneath, carved deep in the mountain is the largest residential doomsday shelter in the world. [...]

The planned luxurious underground compound on two levels includes a total space of 77,500 sf with 13 foot high ceilings. The layout features one large 6,750 sf apartment and six 1,720 sf apartments.

Construction on the secret facility began in 1984, at the height of the Cold War. — forbes.com

In suburbs, cities and rural areas, [big-box stores] can present a reuse and rehab conundrum, particularly as retailers become more sophisticated about controlling leases and redevelopment. [...]

With the big-box model, stores are rarely remodeled. [...]

A kind of “retail cannibalism” emerges, where companies compete for market share with ever-shinier facades that leave aging stores behind as the asphalt fades. — minnpost.com

But Bickels’s lasting legacy was more technical...For those who care about spaces — like Hultén, Piano and countless other international visitors over the decades — the combination of intimate, varied rooms and light sources make for a kind of ur-museum, not grand but perfectly executed. — NYT

Last month, Seth Pinsky, Executive Vice President at RXR Realty, shared a presentation regarding the development of the long-planned rehabilitation and conversion of Pier 57 aka “SuperPier.” According to him, the 450,000-square-foot development will invest $350 million of private capital to redevelop the structure, and in return create hundreds of jobs, generate millions of dollars of revenue for the Hudson River Park Trust, and create a new destination for New Yorkers and visitors alike. — 6sqft.com

Throughout its history, Kitchener has often imagined big plans for its urban development, but since the 1960s most of these grand plans for downtown Kitchener only ever found form in the Market Square Shopping Centre. Market Square is the most complete and concrete repository of Kitchener’s attempts at re-imagining itself in the postwar period. — Numéro Cinq

Over the last few years, we’ve all finally admitted that hospitals are depressing, sometimes toxic places...[But] what if the solution is to redesign the building itself?...Since the late 1980’s, hotels—not hospitals—specifically designed for sick people have been popping up throughout Scandinavia. In [some countries,] a patient’s stay is free, covered by national insurance...Accommodations at patient hotels resemble most traditional 3-star hotel properties. — Quartz

For those former guests and architectural buffs who lamented the demolition of the iconic Hotel Okura Tokyo, they can soon preserve a piece of it in their homes.

Hotel officials plan to sell on the Internet some of the furniture and fixtures used in the guest rooms and restaurants during the main building's 53-year history, with the proceeds going to charity. [...]

The 11-story main building, which opened in May 1962 [...], was called “a masterpiece of Japan’s modernism architecture.” — ajw.asahi.com

Rather than watching passively as non-local or private developers consume neighborhood public spaces, we can use Placemaking to enable citizens to create their own public spaces, to highlight the unique strengths of their neighborhoods, and to address its specific challenges. While gentrification can divide communities and build upon exclusivity, Placemaking is about inclusion and shared community ownership. It is about increasing “quality of life,” not removing public life. — pps.org

Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo first found herself drawn to air traffic control towers in 2006 on a flight into LaGuardia when she first studied the architectural details and circular windows of that now inactive structure [...]

I viewed each tower as both an essential aviation artifact and a vessel with a powerful presence—watching over the vastness of the airport and sky; a non-judgmental cultural greeter [...] In the presence of the tower, I sensed the complex orchestration of humans — smithsonianmag.com

Visitors to the garden bridge in London will be tracked by their mobile phone signals and supervised by staff with powers to take people’s names and addresses and confiscate and destroy banned items, including kites and musical instruments, according to a planning document. [...]

Caroline Pidgeon [...] said she feared the bridge was following “a worrying trend of the privatisation of public places, where the rights of private owners trump those of ordinary people”. — theguardian.com

[The tower proposed for 340 Flatbush Ave Ext.] will rise 1,000 feet tall, claiming the title of New York City’s tallest building outside of Manhattan, and giving Brooklyn its first legitimate supertall skyscraper...The residential component will span 466,000 square feet, and be divided amongst 550 units, with approximately 90 floors in total. There will also be 140,000 square feet of commercial development... — New York Yimby