Hours before the official inauguration of the Philharmonie de Paris concert hall on Wednesday, its architect, Jean Nouvel, declared his intention to boycott the gala because he said the towering, 386 million euro (about $455 million) building is not ready to open. [...]
Mr. Nouvel wrote a column that appeared on the website of the French daily Le Monde denouncing the “contempt” of the concert hall managers for “the architecture, the work of the architect and the architect.”
— artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com
Construction escalated in the days preceding the opening but large parts of the Philharmonie are still not complete, including the restaurant and exhibition space. The inaugural concert will feature the Orchestre de Paris, with dignitaries and French president François Hollande among... View full entry
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill can update their track record of AIA awards with the recent win of their sixth AIA Twenty-Five Year Award for the Exchange House at the Broadgate development in central London. Since 1969, the AIA bestows its sought-after Twenty-Five Year Award to a completed... View full entry
As the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, prepares to break ground on its Foster + Partners—designed expansion in 2016, the institution has launched the second phase of its capital campaign, which has already raised nearly $34 million, more than half of the museum's $60 million goal. [...]
"Foster + Partners' plan pays homage to the Museum's past by restoring the clarity and symmetry of the original building, but also looks to its future as a leading museum in Florida" [...]
— news.artnet.com
[Ray Bradbury's] Cheviot Hills house ... hit the market last May, and sold in a little over a month for $1.765 million [...]
the buyers were Pritzker-Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne, of the firm Morphosis, and his wife, Blythe Alison-Mayne. [...]
the new property owner's plan is to demolish Bradbury's house to put in a new house with three underground levels—one of which will hold a swimming pool—and two stories above ground.
— la.curbed.com
CurbedLA also points out that, according to Morphopedia, this will be Mayne's first residential project in LA in more than ten years.More photos via File 770. View full entry
Like the fork, the cellphone expires and no longer feels as useable in its user’s hand. Like the fork, the cellphone was not first designed for all people. New cellphones work for most people who invested in personal computers and the internet, but they don’t work for anyone else without guidance or instruction. — toskovic.com
After two years in redeveloping the electric power grid, re-engineering water treatment facilities, and redesigning HVAC for cultural density and experimenting with live 'non electronic' materials such as structural steel and concrete and drywall, flooring, and paint at various research labs and... View full entry
Buoyed by some of the largest donations in the city's history, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will unveil a $450 million project today that envisions its campus as the cultural heart of the city. [...]
The project, by Steven Holl Architects, is the most exciting in the institution's 90-year history, board chairman Richard Kinder said. The plan, named the Fayez S. Sarofim Campus, is so transformational that in five years Houstonians might not recognize the 1000 block of Bissonnet.
— chron.com
Previously: MFAH hires Steven Holl Architects to design expansion View full entry
Only one of the new buildings is ready, its centrepiece artwork had to be dismantled after bits fell off – and people are more excited about getting their first Ikea. [...]
A €155m new station, designed by Santiago Calatrava as a swooping sci-fi bird, is so far no more than a concrete foundation slab. It replaces a much-loved 1950s station by a local architect, and it’s now optimistically scheduled to open in 2018, having escalated to four times its original budget.
— theguardian.com
Related: Libeskind opens his latest building in Belgium today. Is it a snooze? View full entry
2014 was the year of the tall building. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) published its 2014 Tall Building Data Research Report, a statistic-laden round-up that could make your head spin and wonder how much taller a skyscraper can possibly get. Last year, a total of... View full entry
In 2015, Libeskind’s brand of Deconstructivism (and all varieties of Deconstructivism, one might argue) amounts to a familiar, dull architecture; a calcified formal language whose shock-factor and novelty has worn away. One would hope that Libeskind, as a leading architectural practitioner, could at least try to articulate a new agenda in the experimental vein of his earlier work. Alas — as the Mons International Conference Xperience shows — that’s not the case. — blouinartinfo.com
After 13 years of negotiations with the region's Port Authority, work has begun on the Greek Orthodox church that will be the only non-secular building at Ground Zero. Many believe it will become one of the most visited churches in the US. It is planned to be completed by Easter 2017. — bbc.com
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
From the opening of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in October to the construction of The Broad in Los Angeles now set to open this autumn, the model of the single-donor museum is thriving. [...] what will happen to these new institutions on the death of the founder or the decline in their collecting activity. [...]
To what extent have these museum founders made plans to ensure the vitality and flexibility of their prized institutions beyond their own lifetimes?
— theartnewspaper.com
Now millions of pounds are being raised towards returning the Mackintosh to its former glory, with the five shortlisted firms now being invited to detail their plans and make presentations in mid March. A winner will be selected later that month. [...]
The five firms are: Avanti Architects, John McAslan + Partners, LDN Architects LLP, Page \ Park Architects and Purcell.
— dailyrecord.co.uk
The fire that broke out in May of 2014 destroyed much of the Glasgow School of Art's historic library, designed by Scottish architect Charles Mackintosh. Around 70% of the building's contents were saved by firefighters, but the library itself was drastically damaged. Restoration discussions and... View full entry
For decades, L.A.'s skyscrapers have had a decidedly boxy style because of requirements that they have emergency helicopter landing pads on top. That code was changed last year, and some architecture buffs hope to see more creative designs in the future.
The Times long has taken the measure of the Los Angeles skyline, as seen from the observation deck of City Hall. Here's how it has evolved
— latimes.com
Related: The daring men building LA's New Wilshire Grand tower View full entry
The elevator doors snap shut behind Otto Solis and his fellow ironworkers. With a quick shudder, gears kick in for a rattling 90-second ascent through the concrete structure rising at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles.
The men huddle in the confined space. Wearing hard hats, bandannas, kneepads and gloves, they look like gladiators ready to fight.
— latimes.com
Related: Downtown LA to set record for world's largest concrete pour View full entry