“To me, this house is the ultimate modernity dream come true,” says Fernando Romero of the two-story, mid-century gem he calls home. “It is extremely flexible for all types of activities: for family, for socializing, for living.” Designed in 1955 by homegrown architect Francisco Artigas, the house is located in the leafy suburbs of Mexico City, adjacent to one of largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere, Bosque de Chapultepec. — nowness.com
In Residence: Fernando Romero on Nowness.com View full entry
New York’s United Nations Headquarters, completed in 1952, pioneered the global workplace. Now nearing the end of a $2.1 billion makeover, it’s again in the vanguard. [...]
It might have been easier -- and possibly cheaper -- to tear the whole structure down and start from scratch. However, for an organization for which precedent and symbolism govern every handshake, the historical meaning of the UN’s architecture still resonates.
— bloomberg.com
Five years after scrapping its original proposal for improvements to the Art and Architecture Building, University of Michigan is planning to add a $28 million addition to the 40-year-old structure. [...]
Designs for a $13 million, 16,300-square-feet addition were originally approved in 2007, but scrapped two years later. At the time, officials blamed a tough economic climate and limited financial resources.
— mlive.com
Willoughby Square, in Brooklyn, NY, however, will bring together both beauty and utility by topping an automated underground parking garage with street-level greenery in a smart new project targeted for completion in 2016.
Over a decade in the making, Willoughby Park is being called the “crown jewel” of the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment Plan, a scheme to help improve Brooklyn’s public spaces and foster neighborhood community and culture.
— buildabetterburb.org
After Viktor Yanukovych fled, many Ukrainians were astounded by their former leader's opulent residence. So far images have only been shown of a few rooms. A SPIEGEL ONLINE special with 360-degree panorama photos now offers a walkthrough of the spectacular villa. — spiegel.de
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has chosen the firm of architect Annabelle Selldorf to head a multimillion-dollar expansion that is expected to triple the size of the museum's location in La Jolla.
Selldorf, based in New York, has worked for art-related clients including the Neue Galerie and the Acquavella Galleries on the Upper East Side. The San Diego museum will be the firm's first contemporary art museum project and its first project on the West Coast.
— latimes.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
Chilean architect Smiljan Radic was commissioned by Serpentine Gallery to design the 2014 Serpentine Galleries Pavilion. Designed by big-name architects since 2000, the temporary pavilion has become a major summer attraction in London's Kensington Gardens for the London Festival of... View full entry
In the center of the sprawling metropolis of Germany's capital, Berlin-Tempelhof Airport stands as both a monument to a darker era in Germany's past and a link to its future.
Built on an airfield where the Wright Brothers once demonstrated their Flyer before a captive European audience, Tempelhof Airport was conceived by the leaders of the Third Reich as a architectural testament to the boundless ambition of German supremacy. Captured by the Soviet Army in 1945 before... View full entry
Perhaps you remember Spirit of Space's Art in the City film from back in summer of 2013, meditating on the interplay between city life and public art in Chicago. More recently, the architectural film-making creative agency produced two short films showcasing Steven Holl's work for the Sifang Art... View full entry
The newly announced second building at Facebook’s data center in Luleå, Sweden, will be the first of the social network’s data centers to be built using its new rapid deployment data center concept, which leans on modular and lean construction principles, much like those demonstrated by Swedish furniture giant Ikea. — allfacebook.com
London’s 200 new towers are something different. Virtually every one contains “luxury” apartments. This new residential upsurge in London is echoed across the Atlantic in New York – as property in both cities becomes a global reserve currency. New York, once the city of the commercial skyscraper, has become the city of the condo tower and the penthouse. But where does that leave commercial architecture? — ft.com
MVRDV has the winning proposal to design the Collection Building for the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The bowl-like public art depot will let the public see the ins and outs of the museum's daily activities, and also let private art collectors store their own collections in ideal museum conditions. Completion of the project is expected in 2017. — bustler.net
Diagrams:Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
Gensler recently began a research project focused on Los Angeles and D.C., “Hackable Buildings – Hackable Cities,” exploring how building owners can adapt their properties to meet changing demand.
“It really started with some research that we were doing on the evolution of office buildings,” said Raffael Scasserra, a Gensler principal. “What we were looking at is what is that evolution like? What is it transforming to and what are buildings going to be?”
— washingtonpost.com
Designed by the British architect David Chipperfield, the three-story building is a plain, compact block of light travertine, unornamented apart from a saw-tooth crest on top. It’s a no-nonsense, no-ego structure that seems to look inward rather than outward. — NYT
Holland Cotter reviews the new Museo Jumex, a contemporary art museum in Mexico City sponsored by the art patron Eugenio López Alonso. Built adjacent to the more formally -adventurous Museo Soumaya, she judges that the architectural design and inaugural exhibitions point to "a calculated effort... View full entry