With a surplus of unused money, Michigan became the first state in 2013 to demolish homes using money intended to save them. The idea was that demolitions would revitalize neighborhoods by increasing the property values of surrounding houses, attracting new homeowners, and reducing crime rates. — Detroit Metro Times
Detroit's neediest homeowners were supposed to receive federal assistance to save their homes as part of the Treasury Department's seven-year-old Hardest Hit Fund. However, Michigan squandered its originally allotted $498 million by creating unnecessarily stringent requirements, according to a... View full entry
According to The Real Deal, via the Downtown Alliance, the center of the New York architecture world is heading south, with over 100 architecture and engineering firms concentrated in Lower Manhattan. Nearly half of them moved there in the last decade or so, while others—like SOM and... View full entry
Shaped from survey responses from over 4,500 Memphians at multiple public events, The Memphis Riverfront Concept proposes to transform six miles and five distinct zones of the historic and culturally significant part of the city. Many of the Concept’s proposed uses, from an iconic adventure... View full entry
The average price of building a garage parking space (as much as $34,000 in 2012) is passed on to people whether they own a car or not, and distort the true demand for urban parking. — Quartz
According to the 2011 National American Housing Survey data of the US census, about 16% of a housing unit’s monthly rental cost is attributable to the expense of building an urban parking spot. For the average renter that amounts to to $1,700 per year, or $142 per month. Parking mandates... View full entry
Neighbors have complained about the plaza for years, calling it an unsafe blight. The frustration is shared by Maria Ciprazo, the federal architect who oversaw the process that in 1999 awarded the project to Mayne and his Southern California firm, Morphosis. — San Francisco Chronicle
In this article, the San Francisco Chronicle takes issue with Morphosis' Federal Building, noting that its plaza has not become the cultural hotspot much hyped by developers at its opening in 2007: But when we view the complex in hindsight, it didn’t transform the local architectural scene... View full entry
Previously covered by Archinect, MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio is a USC course exploring the architect’s role in helping to solve Los Angeles' rapidly accelerating homelessness crisis. "Getting someone off the street and into permanent housing doesn't happen right away. We are looking at lead... View full entry
A pair of USB ports on a console on the front of the bench provides juice from the solar panel mounted at lap level between the seats. Who wouldn’t want to hang out at a bench like this? It certainly catches the eye of passersby. What these kids might not realize, however, is that this bench is watching them back. — Landscape Architecture Magazine
"Smart" benches are spreading—recently a series of them, manufactured by Soofa, was installed in a tiny neighborhood park next to I-77 on the north end of Charlotte, North Carolina with the intent of the neighborhood's analysis and redevelopment. Soofa, founded in 2014 by three graduates of... View full entry
Today, the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform—a multi-disciplinary group of experts convened by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito—released Justice In Design, a report that envisions an alternative to a single, centralized jail. It details how community-based jails, dubbed “Justice Hubs,” might function in an urban context to replace Rikers. — co.design
The Rikers Island Correctional Facility, a complex of 10 jails and about 10,000 detainees located northeast of LaGuardia Airport, has been one of NYC's most debated problems for decades—widely criticized for corruption, brutal mistreatment of detainees, and inhumane conditions. Independent... View full entry
The World Design Organization today announced that Lille, France and Sydney, Australia have made the shortlist to become World Design Capital 2020, for their effective use of design to drive economic, social, cultural, and environmental development in their cities. City visits will be conducted... View full entry
The viability of building a major new concert hall in London has been widely debated, and the future of the Center was thrown into doubt last November, when the British government withdrew its commitment to contribute 5 million pounds (about $6.4 million) to pay for a business plan. The City of London Corporation stepped in with 2.5 million pounds (about $3.2 million) to allow project to go ahead. — NY Times
The shortlist for the future home for the London Symphony Orchestra and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama was announced on Monday and consists of AL_A, Foster + Partners, Renzo Piano, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Gehry Partners, Snohetta, all of which have extensive experience working on... View full entry
The rare decision to name the hosts of separate Games simultaneously — established with a unanimous vote of I.O.C. members on Tuesday — is an effort by the organization to counter diminished interest shown by democratic nations in hosting the Olympics amid exorbitant costs, white-elephant stadiums, widespread corruption, rampant doping and limited appeal to the youth audience. — NY Times
Delegates of International Olympic Committee will vote on future hosting cities on Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru. "Paris is favored to hold the Games in 2024, the centenary of the last time it hosted the Olympics, while Los Angeles is expected to hold the Summer Games for a third time in 2028." Paris and... View full entry
The decision follows years of failed attempts by federal officials to persuade Congress to fully back a plan for a campus in the Washington suburbs paid for by trading away the Hoover Building to a real estate developer and putting up nearly $2 billion in taxpayer funds to cover the remaining cost.
For years, FBI officials have raised alarms that the decrepit conditions at Hoover constitute serious security concerns.
— The Washington Post
Built in 1975 in Washington DC, at $126 million, J. Edgar Hoover Building was the most expensive federal building ever erected. While much loved by some architectural critics, the building has also been under intense criticism for its appearance and functionality ever since its construction. J... View full entry
Dix made sure the hospital that became St. Elizabeths in 1916 had heat, tall arched windows and screened sleeping porches where patients could catch summer breezes. Photos, models and floor plans included in the museum exhibit show handsome brick buildings — with towers, high ceilings, open space and river views. — NPR
Washington's National Building Museum features an exhibit that tells the story of architecture of St. Elizabeths or, as originally named upon its opening in 1855, the Government Hospital for the Insane. Started by Dorothea Dix, the 19th century reformer who fought for the facility to represent... View full entry
The built environment of the Valley does not reflect the innovation that’s driving the region’s stratospheric growth; it looks instead like the 1950s. Looking at aerial views of midcentury campuses like the Eero Saarinen-designed Bell Labs next to contemporary ones like Apple, it’s nearly impossible to tell the midcentury structures from the 21st-century ones. — New York Times
While Silicon Valley is a place of much interest to many, its architectural image and overall planning is hard to grasp or call successful. Allison Arieff of NY Times argues that the isolated corporate headquarters of tech giants have no consideration for the larger context of their... View full entry
Facebook announced today that it has partnered with OMA to design the masterplan for Willow Campus, a mixed-use neighborhood adjacent to their existing headquarters in Menlo Park. "The first official step will be the filing of our plan with Menlo Park in July 2017. We will begin more formal... View full entry