A REVOLUTION in cognitive neuroscience is changing the kinds of experiments that scientists conduct, the kinds of questions economists ask and, increasingly, the ways that architects, landscape architects and urban designers shape our built environment.
This revolution reveals that thought is less transparent to the thinker than it appears and that the mind is less rational than we believe and more associative than we know.
— nytimes.com
Architecture critic, Sarah Williams Goldhagen wrote a brief piece exploring the use of embodied metaphors in contemporary architecture. Looking at recent works by Junya Ishigami, Jürgen Mayer H., Zaha Hadid and Sanaa for instance, Goldhagen notes that the use of metaphors that allude... View full entry
Y Design Office has proposed Unit Fusion, a modular, plug-in high-rise residential typology for Hong Kong. However, as of yet, the 75-story tower project is still in its conceptual design phase. Liebchen quipped "Who wants to bet it won't leave the conceptual design phase?"
As we enter another new year (Archinect's 15th!), it is an opportunity to reflect back on the previous year and share the most trafficked pages in Archinect's diverse online ecosystem, with a list of 11 top 11 lists for '11, based exclusively on visits by unique page-views. The most popular news... View full entry
With yesterday’s inauguration, the Baluarte Bridge in Mexico is officially the Guinness World Record holder for the tallest cable-stayed bridge.
The massive infrastructure project consists of 152 steel suspenders supporting over 1100 meters of 20 meter wide roadway, with a central span of over 520 meters. Its four lanes are held up by two 400 meter towers – tall enough to house the Eiffel Tower – which bring the structure its impressive world record credentials.
— constructiondigital.com
Restoration of the monument, which attracts up to two million visitors a year, is due to go ahead in March and will involve cleaning of the travertine exterior, the restoration of underground chambers, new gating, the moving of visitor service stations to an area outside of the building itself and increased video security. — edition.cnn.com
Some have described the Cyclorama building on the Gettysburg battlefield as an eye sore and called for it to be demolished. But a group of architectural historians is organizing to preserve the building — The Evening Sun
Tim Prudente examines the fate of the modernist Cyclorama building in Ziegler's Grove, designed by architect Richard Neutra. The National Park Service is set to make a final decision on what to do with the building early this year. The Park Service wants to remove the building to restore... View full entry
Construction cranes have only recently returned to the skyline and stasis remains the quo. Instead, here are five changes that I'd like to see in San Francisco. Some involve structures, but most involve sensibilities: the need to pay attention to the final product, rather than the process along the way. — sfgate.com
Our friends at eVolo have sent us a copy of their limited edition book, EVOLO SKYSCRAPERS, and boy, it's a festival for eyes and biceps. At 1224 pages, the book measures 9″ x 11.5″ x 2.5″ and calls for extra sturdy coffee tables.EVOLO SKYSCRAPERS celebrates six years of the internationally... View full entry
Below are the 11 most visited Feature articles during 2011. For a full list of all of our top 11 lists for 2011, click here. 1. Review: Central Park at Playa Vista by Michael Maltzan Architects 2. Architecture and Design Graduates – How to Secure Your First Position – Part... View full entry
Below are the 11 most visited News posts during 2011. For a full list of all of our top 11 lists for 2011, click here. 1. Plans for new Apple HQ, by Norman Foster, officially released 2. MVRDV designs The Cloud for Seoul’s Yongsan Dreamhub 3. Not Your Mama's (Skateboard) House 4. Alleged... View full entry
International design and research collaborative Y Design Office has sent us the proposal Unit Fusion, a modular, plug-in high-rise residential typology for Hong Kong. As of yet, the 75-story tower project is still in its conceptual design phase. — bustler.net
It is ironic that with all the griping about New York's construction constraints, Mr. de Portzamparc said he found the city liberating. "In fact, New York is very attractive," he said. "There are fewer constraints than in most of our European cities." He told the IBT that the building is a tribute to Central Park, of which it will have commanding views, as well as the skyline itself, where the new tower will "evoke the energetic cascade of New York's verticality." — New York Observer
A new look at what may well be the most expensive starchitecture ever. View full entry
Copenhagen architects LETH & GORI have shared with us their entry in the open competition for a new police headquarter and public parking facilities in Lidköping, Sweden. The project site is an open square on the border of Lidköping’s historical urban plan from 1672. The site is an important entrance point to the historic city and one of the design objectives of the competition was how to emphasize this. — bustler.net
Anthony Stephens offered up his euology for Ricardo Legorreta. "Ricardo Legorreta is the reason I began to study architecture...The spaces he designed had something long gone from most architects, soul. Unlike so many of the steel, glass and white wall designs that seem so clever and popular nowadays, his buildings could convey a feeling to those that laid eyes on the spaces he designed."
In Top 10 Design Initiatives to Watch in 2012—for the public good, John Cary, offered up a "a simple meditation on initiatives poised to advance the field, and how they can be scaled up, refined, tweaked, borrowed, and leveraged." While in the latest edition of the Contours... View full entry
The Bavarian mountain village of Mitterfirmiansreut has opened a house of worship made of snow and ice. — Der Spiegel
The plans for the church were drawn up by architect Alfons Doeringer of nearby Passau. It was designed to commemorate a similar church that took shape in the country in 1911. The sconstruction used 1,400 cubic meters (49,000 cubic feet) of snow as well as slabs of ice. View full entry
People are searching for something more authentic, says Kenneth Frampton, a British architect and critic and professor of architecture at Columbia University, who helped define this movement as "critical regionalism." Mr. Frampton says these houses are a reaction to the past couple decades of "compulsive uniformity," whether it's McMansions or the proliferation of "white box" modern houses. — Nancy Keates