Unveiling a new building in 99 degree weather with no air conditioning doesn't sound ideal - unless, that is, said building is the first one in NYC that can power itself. Dubbed the Delta, the self-sustaining residential property was opened to the press last night by green developers Voltaic Solaire, and the balmy conditions in the city just happened to be the perfect opportunity to showcase its smart design. — Inhabitat
Green developers Voltaic Solaire unveiled New York City's very first self-powered building last night. View full entry
Spanish architects A-cero have sent us photos of one of their latest projects: a catchy store design with bold colorblocking for the footwear brand Camper's first store in Granada, Spain. — bustler.net
American builders last month began construction on the highest number of new homes since October 2008, with housing starts jumping 6.9% in another encouraging sign for the housing market. — latimes.com
What About the Last Suprematist? When one speaks of revolutionary art, two kinds of artistic phenomena are meant: the works whose themes reflect the Revolution, and the works which are not connected with the Revolution in theme, but are thoroughly imbued with it, and are Colored by the new... View full entry
The new Claire Tow Theater, perched on top of Eero Saarinen’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, has been in operation for a few weeks now, and it’s a nimble addition to Lincoln Center with architectural benefits out of proportion to its size. — nytimes.com
Gruen’s idea transformed American consumption patterns and much of the environment around us. At age 60, however, the enclosed regional shopping mall also appears to be an idea that has run its course — theatlanticcities.com
The Milllennials, the generation born from 1983 onwards, enjoyed a childhood free of bunkbeds or even shared bathrooms. Growing up in plush megahomes undoubtedly helped them become, in the words of one author, “self-centred, needy, and entitled with unrealistic work expectations.” Oddly, it also spawned a group of people patently unimpressed with backyards and breakfast nooks. — news.nationalpost.com
The $3.5 billion development covers 12,355 acres and was built to house about 500,000 people, and this is one of "several satellite cities being constructed by Chinese firms around Angola," writes Redvers. — businessinsider.com
The building has two colossal, uneven leaning towers (the highest rises 768 feet) that are conjoined at the top by an enormous angular bridge. Conservative estimates put the cost at nearly $900 million; Koolhaas, for his part, says he has “no idea” of the price. What is certain is that the CCTV building now dominates the skyline of Beijing, just as it dominates the airwaves of the country. — thedailybeast.com
Attached are some photos of the CCTV building that I recently took while in Beijing. View full entry
Rusty Shackleford quipped "I wonder what the realtor spin will be with these units... ‘Japan style luxury!’ ‘MINI COOPER with plumbing! Going fast!’ ...I lived once in 275sg.ft. place in NYC. A more appropriate name for this housing type would be JAIL." KarjaCH countered "if properly designed with great attention paid to detail, 300 sf can be the most amazing place to live". Meanwhile hanque helpfully pointed out "if you look at the RFP they've already been designed."
Archinect’s latest project featured in the Showcase series is the House in Ovar, Portugal, by architect, Paula Santos. News NYC launched the adAPT NYC Competition, a pilot program to develop a new housing model for the City’s growing small-household population. adAPT NYC seeks to... View full entry
And even more completion news from Dutch firms today: NL Architects informed us that their project De Kameleon, a supersized housing block in Amsterdam, was just completed. The huge mixed-used project includes apartments, parking, and a new shopping center in the troubled neighborhood formerly known as Bijlmer. — bustler.net
Rotterdam's MVRDV has completed the transformation of a disused mustard laboratory in Dijon, France (previously on Bustler) into an innovative call center with an education center, incubator and social program. — bustler.net
Previously in the Archinect News: MVRDV to Transform Dijon Mustard Lab into Call Center View full entry
Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation (remember THE PINK PROJECT?) has sent us first images of the new home Frank Gehry designed for the initiative. Completed this week, the building is located in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, the neighborhood most devastated by Hurricane Katrina back in August of... View full entry
The developer David W. Levinson could have set for himself the simple task of commissioning a better-designed tower for 425 Park Avenue than the one that’s been there since 1957.
But that would have been a very low bar.
He has engaged four of the world’s leading architects to compete for the job: Norman Foster of Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid of Zaha Hadid Architects, Rem Koolhaas of OMA, and Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners.
— cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
In view of recent events, I have found myself asking whether it is a good thing to make a piece of city where rioting is impossible. The Olympic Park, even in legacy mode, seems to be built for this purpose. — ICON
Kieran Long revisits Olympic Park a year later and looks ahead to it's “legacy”. Long finds that all the "regeneration" and "overlay" while positivist and successful in providing amenities is more a "carpet of statistical generalisations and demographic assessments" and clarifies... View full entry
