Copenhagen darlings BIG have unveiled their design for the 490-foot-tall Beach and Howe tower in Vancouver, a collaboration with Westbank, Dialog, Cobalt, PFS, Buro Happold, Glotman Simpson and local architect James Cheng. The new mixed-use tower marks the entry point to downtown Vancouver, forming a welcoming gateway to the city, while adding another unique structure to the city's skyline. — bustler.net
After the first leaked renderings from a few weeks ago, here some official images from BIG directly. View full entry
The work of Spanish architect Julio Salcedo is shown in this book as a series of built and speculative projects. Salcedo's houses, early achievements that stunned both academic and professional circles with their freshness and precocious sophistication are presented with unpublished competition... View full entry
The Trust for the National Mall exhibited the final design concepts of the National Mall Design Competition last week....Orhan Ayyüce, argued "It is really deplorable when all the renderings are depicting entertained crowds and happy go around shopping mall like experiences. The National Mall is much more meaningful when it houses 'people' voicing something in masses.
Terri Peters offered up a report from SmartGeometry 2012 in Troy, New York. SmartGeometry is an international community of academics and professionals who hold annual workshops and conference days at academic institutions around the world and the theme for this year (it’s ninth)... View full entry
"Right now we are making deeply diffuse hovering, clouds of material that work together in very delicate ways but when we compress those all together we can see those working as roofs, walls that breathe, that filter light" says Philip Beesly a Professor of Architecture at Waterloo University — BBC News
The buildings in our cities could quite literally come alive in the decades ahead. Spencer Kelly looks at a series of projects that will allow buildings and even the furniture in them to be able to sense how they are being used and adapt to changes in the environment around them. View full entry
Four finalists have emerged from the Menil Collection's extensive international search to select an architect to design its Menil Drawing Institute (MDI), the first major project to be built as a part of the museum's long-range master plan. — houston.culturemap.com
After several years of site visits, careful research and thoughtful interviews, the Menil's architecture selection committee has announced a short list of long-established and newly-emerging architectural firms: Tatiana Bilbao — up-and-coming Mexico City architect with a number of... View full entry
Built for Swire Properties Ltd. (962), the structure cost HK$27,000 ($3,477) per square foot to construct, including land premium. A standard high-rise apartment in the city can cost as little as $HK4,000 per square foot to build, according to Swire Chief Executive Officer Martin Cubbon.
“Of course, it’s going to be enormously expensive by any standards,” says Cubbon. “In rental values and capital values, it’s going to command the highest numbers that Hong Kong has ever seen.”
— businessweek.com
"In 1955, the US State Department commissioned Richard Neutra to design a new embassy in Karachi. Neutra's appointment was part of an ambitious program of architectural commissions to renowned architects, which included embassies by Walter Gropius in Athens, Edward Durrell Stone in New Delhi... View full entry
Chicago Past collects large photos of historic Chicago. — chicagopast.tumblr.com
This is a great tumblr blog to follow if you're feeling Chi-town nostalgic. View full entry
To continue with Javier's recent place hacking post of this dude climbing the Shard, I bring you this insane video of base jumpers "hacking" the Koekelberg Basilica in Brussels. View full entry
Because towers take so long to plan and construct, the current crop reflect a vision up to a decade old, reckons Nick Offer of Arup, an engineering firm. Economic conditions and the scale of such projects mean that only the very brave will invest now... In 2010 the coalition scrapped the previous, Labour government’s density targets, which were designed to encourage developers to build more units. Instead it has endorsed “garden cities” — economist.com
Related: Just climbing the shard, whatever... View full entry
On any given night in the U.S., there are approximately 60,500 youth confined in juvenile correctional facilities or other residential programs. Photographer Richard Ross has spent the past five years criss-crossing the country photographing the architecture, cells, classrooms and inhabitants of these detention sites. — wired.com
Demolition, on the one hand, seems like an essential part of a building's life cycle, but when it comes to important architecture milestones, it makes you wonder why these buildings warrant such an ending. This month (March, 16th), it was exactly 40 years since the first building of Pruitt-Igoe was demolished by implosion in 1972. — huffingtonpost.com
In Moscow, it's common for two buildings to have blind walls facing each other over a wide alley. This setup provides the perfect space for a lithe, little office to build itself a perch. The structure fuses onto the neighboring buildings with steel clamps, hovering off the ground so pedestrians can stroll under it. It also glows at night, thanks to a translucent plastic shell, looking like a wasps' nest from hell. — theatlanticcities.com
Chicago architecture firm Goettsch Partners has designed the signature building that will be the new home of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and provide additional space for the School of Communication on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. The university is planning to break ground and begin construction in May of this year. The project is slated to be completed and ready for move-in in fall 2015. — bustler.net
Back in February 2010, we had the chance to publish first renderings and plans of the, then under construction, ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, a performing arts, media, and cultural center located on the landmark Bethlehem Steel site in eastern Pennsylvania. Now, with the center finally completed, the American Institute of Architects Pennsylvania has awarded a Silver Medal, the organization's highest honor, to the building's designers, Spillman Farmer Architects. — bustler.net
Also, Spillman Farmer Architects is currently hiring. View full entry