You can’t overstate the importance of City of Quartz...it remains the best socio-political critique of modern L.A, the first book you’d recommend to someone seeking to understand the dark nativist currents and unyielding avarice that still shape a city so easily stereotyped but rarely understood. It is noir to the core...Even Vince Staples insisted that I read City of Quartz had I not already. — the LAnd
On the 30th anniversary of the dystopian L.A. touchstone, Jeff Weiss talks to the prophetic author and oft-misunderstood activist about political uprisings, the pandemic, and what gives him hope for the future. In related news, back in 2015 Julia Ingalls reported on the third installment of The... View full entry
A budget shortfall has dealt a setback to OMA- and Studio-MLA-designed First and Broadway (FAB) Park in Downtown Los Angeles. The project will occupy the site of a former state office building and provide around two acres of public park space, including new pathways, seating areas, and a... View full entry
Henning Larsen Architects has been selected to design a new 2.6-hectare redevelopment scheme for the areas surrounding a currently underutilized stretch of Belfast's River Lagan waterfront. The project, recently approved by the Belfast City Council, will bring a mix of offices, housing, and... View full entry
The Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has unveiled a plan envisioning how Manhattan's streets might transform to minimize auto dependency while embracing the widespread availability of dedicated bus and bicycle lanes as well as more generous pedestrian infrastructure. The so-called "Not... View full entry
This week's featured virtual event happenings, from Archinect's Virtual Event Guide, address urban design, sustainable infrastructure, Stefano Boeri and Sou Fujimoto, equity in higher ed, designing careers, and much more. Are you hosting a virtual lecture? Presentation? Tour? Interview?... View full entry
ODA Architecture designed a proposal to build a mixed-use district in Queens that would encompass five blocks. Dubbed “Innovation QNS,” the $2 billion project would bring 2,700 units of mixed-income housing, 250,000 square feet of creative office space, 200,000 square feet of retail, a new school, two acres of public open space, and new neighborhood amenities to Astoria. — 6sqft
President Donald Trump’s administration is looking at ways to convert a glut of commercial real estate resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing lockdowns, into affordable housing, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said Wednesday. — Bloomberg
HUD Secretary Ben Carson gave remarks on the unlikeliness of things going back to how they were before the pandemic, citing the greater number of people that will work from home in the future. As a result of that new reality, Carson said, according to Bloomberg, "That's going to free up a lot of... View full entry
The NYU Tandon School of Engineering, T.Y. Lin International, and Sam Schwartz Engineering have unveiled a proposal for a new bridge connecting Queens and Manhattan. The so-called "Queens Ribbon" proposal is part of a larger set of pedestrian and bicycle bridges proposed by the design... View full entry
Recognized for their distinct approach within architecture and landscape design, Snøhetta has published a new book highlighting their efforts to "recognize a potential to further challenge existing industry standards by developing new Lean key principles in the complex merge of design... View full entry
Rotterdam-based Orange Architects along with Echo urban design, Moederscheim Moonen, More Architecture, and Studio Nauta, has been commissioned by Rotterdam developers Leyten and Stebru to design the new Zomerhofkwartier (ZOHO) in Rotterdam. ZOHO is a kind of "city within a city" in... View full entry
MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, has revealed a new renderings of a masterplan and architectural design for the Shenzhen Bay Culture Park in China. The complex covers roughly 51,000 square meters and will have a total building area of 182,000 square meters which will include the Creative... View full entry
The City of Detroit has established a promising collaboration with Danish architects and urban planners SLA, local firm Giffels Webster, and consultants Utile, CDAD, and HR&A to address and solve the social and urban challenges of the Gratiot / 7 Mile Neighborhood in Detroit. The team was selected... View full entry
Today's featured virtual event happenings, from Archinect's Virtual Event Guide, address issues from resiliency, mass timber, community engagement, residential design, art, public art, urban design, Palm Springs modernism and bamboo. Are you hosting a virtual lecture? Presentation?... View full entry
NBBJ has been selected to design Net City, a 2 million-square-meter master-planned district along Shenzhen's Dachanwan Port for Tencent, the largest internet company in China. The concept for Net City builds on the idea of an urban environment as an interconnected, human-focused organic... View full entry
This post is brought to you by TerraViva Competitions TerraViva Competitions launches TACTICAL URBANISM NOW!, a new architecture and design competition focused on the transformation of contemporary public spaces. Prizes up to 4.000 € will be awarded to the winners... View full entry