In a bizarre dispute, a skyscraper has been built around a tombstone in the city of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province in China.
Building developers bought a cemetery with an eye to building a series of skyscrapers on the land. Prior to construction, locals were paid to relocate the graves, yet one family refused the proposed terms, forcing developers to build around the landmass.
— DesignBuild Source
Grimshaw Architects reveals an interesting glimpse of the massive construction going on at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia. Back in 2007, Grimshaw had won the competition for a new combined international and domestic terminal designed for 17 million passengers a year. The building is scheduled for completion in December 2013. — bustler.net
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today issued a report: Local Leaders: Healthier Communities Through Design that provides a roadmap for towns and cities looking to help their populations stay healthy by employing design techniques that encourage residents to increase their physical activity. — aia.org
The report, which was released today at Governing Magazine’s “Summit on Healthy Living,” demonstrates how active lifestyles aided by positive design choices lead to a healthier population. Individuals who live in livable, mixed use communities, with options for transit - weigh... View full entry
Destination Sydney led by Lend Lease with Australian firm HASSELL Studio, Dutch office OMA and Populous (formerly HOK), has been unveiled as the winning consortium for the redevelopment of the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Convention Centre and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour. — australiandesignreview.com
"The new album narrates urban life. It is rather personal music, bound up with this city, there are images of an asphalt jungle and a house that is being built in a city, and we always support the ones who don't have power." -Baba Zula — Qantara.de
The new Baba Zula album is called "Gecekondu," a term used in Turkey for illegal settlements built on the fringes of major cities like Istanbul or Ankara. These growing slums, built with the simplest materials, have become home to many newcomers trying their luck in urban centers. One could... View full entry
The two Hong Kong-born architects, Bing Thom in Vancouver and Ronald Lu of Hong Kong, were announced today as the collaborating lead architects on the architectural design of the Xiqu (Chinese opera) Centre, one of the landmark cultural venues for the West Kowloon Cultural District, scheduled for commissioning in 2016 — bustler.net
There is a growing movement afoot in design. It has assumed many names over the years, all of which emphasize the public good and the engagement of too-often marginalized voices. Of late, we've seen life-saving products, more dignifying environments, and more efficient systems, all designed for the betterment of all. — PublicInterestDesign.org
The University of Minnesota College of Design, Tandus Flooring, and PublicInterestDesign.org introduced Public Interest Design 100. The list is, a comprehensive look at 100 individuals and teams working at the intersection of design and service. While there are many designers... View full entry
To survive, a city or a region has to make money; it has to export more than it imports, in dollar terms. Cities that decline are on the losing side of this equation. So if you care about cities, which I do, it leads you to think about how they function as economic entities. It leads you to think about economics. I think this is what happened to Jane Jacobs, and why she ended up writing several books about economics after her seminal 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. — theatlanticcities.com
After several years of planning, design and construction, a team of students from The New School and Stevens Institute of Technology who participated in the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon celebrated the completion of Empowerhouse, an innovative model for affordable, energy efficient green housing located in the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington. — The New School
Developed in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. (DC Habitat), and the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the project marks the first time in the Solar Decathlon's history that a team partnered from the outset with civic and government agencies to... View full entry
WAI Architecture Think Tank has released the video narrative “Généalogie d'un collage”. The video displays the creation of the collage ‘Cities of the Avant-Garde’ as well as one of the poems that were developed with the iconic image. Music: Asap Rocky... View full entry
The multidisciplinary design team led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and Thomas Phifer & Associates was recently named winner of Design Waller Creek: A Competition. Organized by the Austin, TX-based Waller Creek Conservancy, this international design competition called for ideas to revitalize a 7-mile stretch of Waller Creek, a neglected Austin urban ecosystem, and thus turning a "currently fragmented and undervalued section of the city into a vibrant, livable, and workable district." — bustler.net
While becoming the tallest in architectural terms will always garner attention, taller building often harbour some of the lengthiest development periods.
With a rise in the prominence of prefabrication, however, large is no longer necessarily equated with lengthy.
— DesignBuild Source
Related: Sky City: World’s tallest building, to be built in 90 days View full entry
Holistic sustainability is a notion too often forgotten in a global industry heavily focused delivering on green ideals. While the notion of green building is an umbrella under which all things related to environmentally responsible construction and design efforts are categorized, the green sector actually falls under the broad-reaching holistic sustainability model. — DesignBuild Source Canada
Broad Minded City is a Documentary about Urban Planning, Design and Architecture focusing on the current issues facing cities in development, issues like sustainability, culture identity, infrastructure, transportation and preservation. It's a multidisciplinary approach loosely based on Frank Lloyd Wright's urban model "Broadacre City" to show the difference between Broadacre City and Urban Sprawl as we know it today. — Quasimotor Productions
Right now, we are looking to share a 10-15 min short film of Broad Minded City to the public in a venue. The initial screening will mostly happen in the Los Angeles area, but not against screening on other cities interested in this subject matter. The hope is to make the documentary into a... View full entry
Canadian architecture, landscape and urban planning firm Brook McIlroy has shared with us Prince Arthur's Landing, an expansive downtown waterfront revitalization project for Thunder Bay, Ontario. The award-winning development opened in December 2011 and was designed by Brook McIlroy as lead consultant. — bustler.net
