“As a housing commissioner we feel like we’re trying to plug a lot of leaks in the dike,” said Nick Fish, a Portland city commissioner in charge of the housing bureau and parks and recreation. And the city’s budget has still not recovered from the downturn. Habitat, especially in east Portland, he said, is filling the gap. — NYT
Kirk Johnson examines how a depressed real estate market on Portland along with a recent gift by local businessman John Gray, has enabled Habitat, the nonprofit housing group, to think big. The organization has been buying up property on the city’s struggling east side in the process... View full entry
Before the recession and the return of architectural probity, the phrase "like an alien spaceship" was all over architecture journalism like a cheap suit. Faced with anything that didn't look like a brick box, critics and headline writers would ransack their imaginations before inevitably reaching for the extra-terrestrial. — Guardian
As the newly restored first edition goes on show, Justin McGuirk explores an emblem of 1960s architectural utopianism, the Futuro house, designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968. If you would like to visit the cabin number 001, it went on show last week at the Weegee... View full entry
A new TV and web production coming to PBS in 2013 about ten influential American buildings that changed the way we live, work, and play. — wttw.com
Chicago-based firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture just released its design for Dancing Dragons, a pair of landmark supertall mixed-use towers for the new Yongsan International Business District in Seoul, South Korea. The buildings, which include residential, “officetel” and retail elements, consist of slender, sharply angled mini-towers cantilevered around a central core. — bustler.net
The AS+GG towers will find themselves in close proximity to MVRDV's highly controversial The Cloud towers. View full entry
The Thematic Pavilion “ONE OCEAN“ for the 2012 EXPO in Yeosu, South Korea [...] is scheduled to open later this week, May 12. The pavilion, a permanent building and one of the major facilities for the Yeosu EXPO, was designed by Austrian firm soma who won the international competition for the assignment back in 2009.
The pavilion's exhibitions will give the visitors overview and introduction to the EXPO’s theme, The Living Ocean and Coast.
— bustler.net
Previously in the Archinect News: Construction Photos of soma’s Thematic Yeosu EXPO Pavilion (includes a video animation of the bionic kinetic facade). View full entry
“Here is the most modern of modern houses I’ve ever seen and loved,” she wrote, describing the turquoise mosaic tile, the compact state-of-the-art kitchen, the distant views of city lights, the proximity to her daughter’s family and the circular stairway that she felt, sadly, too old to sail down.
“I guess you can’t expect to have too many dreams answered,” she concluded. “At least, I’ve had the opportunity to see the Morris House, to know it existed.”
— nytimes.com
Victoria Newhouse - "aesthetically I think they are greatly improved from what we had before...they're smaller and more intimate...more inviting...they are acoustically improved...and many of them have the ability to be reconfigured...all of this leads to a very exciting scene" — Charlie Rose
Victoria Newhouse author of The Architecture and Acoustics of New Opera Houses and Concert Halls along with Daniel Libeskind, Michael Kaiser and Renee Fleming were on Charlie Rose last month, to discuss the current explosion of "literally hundreds" of new opera houses and concert halls... View full entry
People walk out of an upside down house, built by Polish architects Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozanski, in the western Austrian village of Terfens May 5, 2012. The project is meant to serve as a new tourist attraction in the area, and is now open for public viewing. Picture taken May 5, 2012. — buzzfeed.com
The architect on the new gallery is the L.A.-based firm wHY Architecture, founded by Kulapat Yantrasast, who worked with Tadao Ando for 15 years, and designed the L.A. branch of New York gallery L&M Arts, in Venice Beach. The firm, Mr. Rubenstein says, was recommended to him by Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art director Jeffrey Deitch, a New York transplant himself. — galleristny.com
Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects beat out some serious competition yesterday when he was awarded the honor to design the first CornellNYC Tech academic building on Roosevelt Island. The six candidates included Diller Scofidio + Renfro of High Line fame; One World Trade Center designers Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and Steven Holl Architects. — Inhabitat
London's Serpentine Gallery just released plans for the 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. This summer's pavilion, the twelfth commission in the gallery’s annual series, will be open to the public from June 1 to October 14, 2012. — bustler.net
Let us know what you think about this year's pavilion design in the comment section below. You can also re-read reactions to the initial announcement of the design team here. View full entry
The concept of building or imagining a new City is actually more than just a concept, and has been delivered in recent times for political, economic, social or other reasons. Abuja, Nigeria is one of the more recent, purpose built in the 1980s and now Nigeria’s Capital City since 1991. — thisbigcity.net
What might happen at Seattle Center when Memorial Stadium goes away? Are there imaginative and unique uses for a large urban park? What is the Jelly Bean and why is it floating next to the Space Needle?
Join us Friday, May 11, for presentations by the finalists of a design competition, Urban Intervention, that explores the future of Seattle Center and public space. The lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets should be reserved in advance.
— AIA Seattle
If you're in the area, head out to see the finalist presentations on May 11th. In the meantime, you can see the preview videos from the finalists here. View full entry
Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph. Steven Ward, hoped “mr diana will now get behind this decision and determine how best to renovate to meet the needs of the community...score one for preservation of the modern!"
News Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph, a late-1960s building in the small Hudson Valley town that sparked debate on the value of modern architecture. Steven Ward, hoped... View full entry
My business cards say FASHION ARCHITECTURE BASKETBALL. When people ask me what I do, they’re usually trying to ask how I made my money, not what my job is. In my mind, what I do is those three things. They occupy most of my time: fashion, going around to all the fashion weeks and being such a fanatic when I pick out my clothes, trying to be in the latest fashions. Architecture, which you can see here, with this house. And basketball, which is another full-time occupation for me. — interviewmagazine.com
Interview Magazine does its thing with James Goldstein, owner of John Lautner-designed Goldstein residence. View full entry