BIG, Hijjas, and Ramboll have been selected as the winners of the Penang State Government's international competition to design a masterplan for the Penang South Islands, which will provide locals with roughly 4.6 kilometers of public beaches, 600 acres of parks and 25 kilometers of waterfront... View full entry
After much anticipation, the winners of the Van Alen Institute Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge competition have been announced. Thanks to the competition's design jury and a public vote held during the competition's Virtual Design Show, the winning designs are "Brooklyn Bridge Forest"... View full entry
This post is brought to you by the L.A. Forum The summer exhibition “Every. Thing. Changes.” by the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design presents 20 new works documenting the collective view of life in Los Angeles in its new decade. The newly commissioned... View full entry
the government is tearing up the national rule book that has been in place since the second world war to ensure the best use of land, and replacing it with three simple classifications. From now on, all land in England will be designated for either “growth”, with automatic planning permission, “renewal”, with permission subject to some basic checks, or “protection”, preserving the sacrosanct status of the green belt. — BBC
Among the drastic streamlining of the planning approval process proposed is a system of automatic approvals that privileges pattern book-style developments that make use of readymade designs similar to those already used in Bath, Belgravia and Bournville, BBC reports. View full entry
The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts has announced its slate of 2020 Grants to Individuals, a set of 52 awards totaling $320,800 in funding for research endeavors that highlight a multiplicity of architectural, urban, and social perspectives. As in years... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has issued a statement condemning recently announced changes to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) provision of the 1968 Fair Housing Act by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Last week, HUD Secretary Ben... View full entry
The slow and steady death of the shopping mall has been sped up since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now several months into the public health and economic crisis the pandemic has set off, mall owners and operators are developing specific visions for the post-mall future of American... View full entry
The city has changed. The city is always changing, but COVID-19 has accelerated the process. From New York and Hong Kong to Brisbane, Manaus and Copenhagen, the pandemic is reshaping the ways we think about urban space. “In a matter of just two or three months, people have completely... View full entry
“I would be disgusted if we had to drive through downtown Los Angeles for generations and see buildings marking the city skyline that were achieved through bribery and corruption,” said Councilman Paul Krekorian, who has also proposed barring developers implicated in criminal conduct from getting any future approvals. — The Los Angeles Times
Emily Alpert Reyes of The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the handful of projects that have been tied to an ongoing federal corruption investigation targeting Los Angeles City Council member Jose Huizar and investigates how planning approvals for some those projects may be impacted by their... View full entry
As commercial and office real estate markets continue to be upended by societal shifts touched off by the COVID-19 pandemic, some economists are looking to these now under-utilized spaces as potential avenues for bringing additional housing supplies online in American cities. Previously on... View full entry
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
