The government hopes to cap the cost of building the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at ¥155 billion, much lower than the ¥252 billion projected under a recently scrapped plan [...].
The government intends to make sure that the stadium will be built by April 2020. But given the International Olympic Committee’s request that the venue be built by January of that year, it plans to ask a yet-to-be-named contractor to propose shortening its construction schedule, the sources said.
— japantimes.co.jp
Read more about the troubled New National Stadium Tokyo in the Archinect news:Not over yet: Zaha Hadid releases 23-minute film pushing for Tokyo Olympic StadiumAre uncompetitive Japanese contractors to blame for Zaha's New National Stadium budget blowout?Zaha Hadid reportedly not giving up on... View full entry
Photographer Ryan Schude's narrative panoramas are as informed by the artist's humor as they are by the structures in which they often take place. Consider "The Saturn," a typical Southern California dingbat that is transformed into a tableau of subjects wondering where they went wrong. There's... View full entry
“I was a little disappointed in the fire service,” said Belles, standing on the charred hillside next to the dome in his semi-rural neighbourhood on the edge of town. — theguardian.com
Wildfires currently blazing in Okanogan County, Washington, have just broken the record for the biggest in the state’s history. With fire season just getting underway and September looking hot and dry, the so-called Okanogan Complex fires will likely persist for months.In Omak, a small town in... View full entry
The Related Companies, the city’s largest developer, plans to “tube up” the residential towers in Hudson Yards, its massive real estate development atop the MTA’s west side rail yard. The first large-scale pneumatic waste network to be constructed in the US since Roosevelt Island’s, it will serve 5,000 apartments in six buildings, the first of which is scheduled for completion in 2018. — Urban Omnibus
The scenic High Line may soon host more than tourists and weekenders: a proposed scheme to introduce pneumatic garbage tubes into a series of Manhattan apartment buildings includes using the underside of the former elevated rail line to mount the tubes (the rendering below pictures them in... View full entry
In 2003 in Utah, government officials decided to try a radical solution to homelessness: giving people who would otherwise be on the street permanent housing. Twelve years later, the surprisingly cost-effective program is a success: almost all of the people given homes remained in them, and the... View full entry
Initial renderings of the $300 million development depict a cluster of five architecturally distinct buildings distributed across the 2.6- acre site around a central plaza. In total, the project will comprise 333,600 square feet, and have 249 residential units. One of the architects’ primary goals was to make the site as approachable as possible to invite the surrounding community in to shop, dine, or simply relax in the plaza. — Architectural Record
Renderings and model photos were released today of Frank Gehry's proposed design for the 8150 Sunset Boulevard project. Positioned at the so-called Gateway to the Sunset Strip at the curving intersection of Crescent Heights Boulevard, Havenhurst Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Gehry's mixed-use... View full entry
In Stefano Cerio's series “Chinese Fun,” he explores the facades of amusement without an audience’s reaction. The photographer enters areas built for fun and leisure in the off months or closing hours, exploring the absurdity that creeps into the architecture of entertainment when there is no one to enjoy it but a single camera. — Colossal
Shijingshang Park-BeijingShanghai Happy Valley-ShanghaiWater Cube-Beijing. Photo by by Stefano Cerio.Cover of Stefano Cerio's recently released book, Chinese Fun. Click here to see more of the series.All photos by Stefano Cerio.In other recent amusement/bemusement-park news: Banksy about to open... View full entry
Wood fell out of fashion as a building material in the Soviet Union in favour of concrete. Now, architects across the new east are returning to wood for its many qualities including cost-effectiveness and sustainability. [...]
“Urban wooden architecture is something completely different. It is for the people, without any kind of pretensions for the long-term. It has no direct economic benefit, but it promotes unity and healthy communication.”
— calvertjournal.com
The topic of wood in the Archinect news:Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Wood" Pinterest BoardRise of the wooden skyscrapers: "Where all you need is a giant allen key to put it together."Bali’s fascinating bamboo architectureWooden textiles & low-poly landscapes View full entry
An underground leak has been discovered within the World Trade Center complex — and officials fear the seepage may be coming from the slurry wall that separates the newly rebuilt Ground Zero site from the Hudson River [...]
They fear that the slurry wall may not have been properly insulated, allowing water to seep through it, sources said. [...]
The wall’s emotional significance was immortalized when a portion was left exposed inside the National September 11 Memorial Museum.
— dnainfo.com
The Port Authority of New York maintains that there aren't any known issues with the slurry wall, but that engineering and construction officials were called in to follow up on workers' reports that they heard water rushing "behind the walls of lower concourses of the complex".More news on and... View full entry
Canadian space and defense company Thoth Technology is attempting to make reaching the stratosphere as simple as riding an elevator up a tower about 23 times taller than the world’s tallest building.
The Thoth space elevator patent, approved by the US patent office on July 21, specifies that the tower could be built on any “planetary surface,” (i.e. not just Earth), a sign that Thoth is thinking pretty far ahead. [...] the top of the tower will serve as a rocket launch site.
— qz.com
In slightly more recent-technology elevator news:ThyssenKrupp's cable-free elevator test tower tops out in less than 10 monthsJapan's simple logic for putting toilets in elevatorsInstallation of UltraRope elevators begins at Kingdom Tower View full entry
Islamic State blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin in the Unesco-listed Syrian city of Palmyra, the country’s antiquities chief has said. [...]
Baal Shamin was built in 17AD and it was expanded under the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian in 130AD. Known as the Pearl of the Desert, Palmyra, which means City of Palms, is a well-preserved oasis 130 miles north-east of Damascus.
— theguardian.com
Reports of the destruction of the Unesco-listed Baalshamin temple surfaced only days after the news broke that ISIS militants had beheaded Khaled Al-Asaad, a leading Syrian archaeologist and unrivaled Palmyra expert.Meanwhile destruction in the name of so called "cultural cleansing" is also... View full entry
A pedestrian bridge designed by Olafur Eliasson has opened in Copenhagen, inspired by the Danish-Icelandic artist's childhood in Iceland.
Reminiscent of sailing boats, Cirkelbroen, or circle bridge, is made of five circular platforms in different sizes, each with its own "mast", according to Danish foundation Nordea-fonden [...].
Spanning the Danish capital's Christianshavn canal, the bridge, some 40 meters-long (131 feet), has a section that swings open to allow boats to pass through.
— reuters.com
Olafur Eliasson in the Archinect news:Olafur Eliasson Wants You to Design Utopia (Out of Legos)Olafur Eliasson turns Louisiana MoMA into a 'Riverbed'Olafur Eliasson receives 2014 McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT View full entry
A new museum dedicated to the history and culture of Palestine over the last two centuries is due to open in May next year in Birzeit...In a controversial move, the planned launch date coincides with the 68th anniversary of the Nakba, when the Israeli state was established in 1948 and more than 750,000 Palestinians went into exile. 'The decision to open the museum on May 15 is designed to underline the enduring importance of the Nakba to the museum’s work,' says [museum director] Jack Persekian — The Art Newspaper
More on Archinect:Israel-Palestine: Hope through architectureGaza attacks: Lethal warningsAfter Banksy: the parkour guide to Gaza View full entry
the Pinnacle skyscraper grew to just nine floors before falling victim to financial wrangling. Often referred to as The Stump, its stunted lift core has stood as a concrete folly ever since work halted more than three years ago.
Its days are numbered. Scaffolding is now climbing up the core in preparation for demolition. The replacement building will have a very different design. The old core must be pummelled to rubble and a new one constructed.
— londonist.com
More from London's skyline:London's oligarch-transformation continues with a "sky pool"Artist Carsten Höller to wrap world's longest tunnel slide around the ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower in LondonWalkie Talkie Tower summons the elements again — this time it's wind!London is eating itself View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry