Following the five-month search for a design team to deliver London's new elevated park, the Camden Highline has selected James Corner Feild Operations to lead the design team. The firm will work in collaboration with vPPR Architects and a number of other creative specialists including London... View full entry
A design competition hosted by the School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape (SAPL) at the University of Calgary asked participants, "how might matters of equity and activism, ecology and environment, and health and wellness converge, and unfold, within our future cities?" Launched... View full entry
A development team for 5 World Trade Center (5 WTC) has been selected by the Port Authority of NY and NJ. The board voted unanimously during their monthly public meeting to award the bid to Silverstein Properties, Brookfield Properties, Omni New York, and Dabar Development. The board also offered up a snapshot of the design, which comes from none other than Kohn Pedersen Fox. The image depicts a 900-ft skyscraper emerging from one of the World Trade Center’s last developable sites. — Urbanize NYC
The full press release from the Port Authority of NY and NJ... Award for 5 WTC, the Location of the Former Deutsche Bank Building, Cements Governor Cuomo’s Commitment to Complete the Rebuilding of the World Trade Center Campus New Mixed-Use Tower to Include First Residential... View full entry
Conversation around the future of housing is a topic commonly discussed within architecture and urban planning circles. Firms large and small have postulated where issues within housing schemes lie and how the industry can address them. However, as architects continue to dance around solutions for... View full entry
Even more perilous, the promised second phase of Hudson Yards — eight additional buildings, including a school, more luxury condos and office space — appears on indefinite hold as the developer, the Related Companies, seeks federal financing for a nearly 10-acre platform on which it will be built.
Related, which had said the entire project would be finished in 2024, no longer offers an estimated completion date.
— The New York Times
The New York Times is reporting on the uncertain future of the $25 billion Hudson Yards mega-development in Manhattan’s Far West Side. The starchitect-studded development is reeling from ongoing effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, as luxury condos remain unsold and commercial tenants go... View full entry
Renderings have been released for a tower replacing Midtown’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, Donald Trump’s first major Manhattan development. The proposed project at 175 Park Avenue would rise up to 83 stories and 1,646 feet, making it NYC's second-tallest building. The design comes from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and includes infrastructure upgrades to Grand Central Terminal and the subway station, as well as three elevated public outdoor spaces that wrap around the building. — 6sqft
Here at Archinect, we highlight academic events and lectures that provide insight and access to public programming created by architecture schools. Year after year, these events welcome various leaders and innovators within architecture, design, and its adjacent fields of study. While in-person... View full entry
Amazon has unveiled the latest design plans for the second phase of its $2.5 billion Arlington HQ2 campus. The proposal for the PenPlace site includes three 22-story office towers, several smaller buildings, a 250-seat outdoor amphitheater, public green space, and a fourth 350-foot swirling glass... View full entry
Los Angeles County unveiled its draft update to the L.A. River master plan, the document intended to guide the development of new parks and water quality projects along the 51-mile corridor, while also accounting for potential displacement and equity issues in neighboring communities. — Urbanize Los Angeles
The new document was formed with input from thousands of residents, with online materials receiving nearly one million impressions, Urbanize LA reports. Frank Gehry is leading the masterplan effort in collaboration with Philadelphia-based landscape architecture firm OLIN. © Los Angeles... View full entry
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Jan. 27 directing his administration to end policies that enable discrimination in housing and lending, and acknowledging the federal government’s role in erecting systemic barriers to fair housing. — Bloomberg CityLab
According to Kriston Capps, writing for Bloomberg CityLab, "Biden’s executive order tasked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to review two key rules implemented under the Trump administration. One of those rules governs how cities assess and enforce efforts to reduce... View full entry
Award-winning architect and designer, Suman Sorg, FAIA, founder of Sorg Architects, has formed the non-profit design firm, A Complete Unknown, in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to promote social justice, peace, and unity through architecture and design. "At this stage in my career, I have... View full entry
The annual AIANY Design Awards recognizes New York-based practices for their outstanding work and overall design excellence. Awards are distributed across the following categories: Architecture, Interiors, Urban Design, and Projects. Jury members Marlon Blackwell, Julie Eizenberg, Stephan... View full entry
The pandemic has underlined how broken the UK’s model for urban development is. [...]
It is hard to see now amid the depression and anger, but the pandemic did briefly show cities acting on the basis of general human need: rough sleepers being housed, mutual aid groups being set up, evictions being suspended. Yet the possibility of any long-term change is rapidly being lost.
— The Guardian
Tribune culture editor Owen Hatherly's new housing opinion piece for The Guardian. View full entry
The National Landing Business Improvement District (BID) in Northern Virginia has outlined plans for creating what it says will be the most “well-connected downtown in the country,” following its selection as home to Amazon HQ2. — Smart Cities Dive
According to Smart Cities Dive, National Landing BID has presented "several public-private partnership projects, with costs totaling $4 billion, that will improve transit in National Landing, outside of Washington, D.C., which encompasses parts of Virginia’s Crystal City, Pentagon City... View full entry
The mayor of Paris has said a €250m (£225m) makeover of the Champs-Élysées will go ahead, though the ambitious transformation will not happen before the French capital hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Anne Hidalgo said the planned work, unveiled in 2019 by local community leaders and businesses, would turn the 1.9 km (1.2 mile) stretch of central Paris into “an extraordinary garden”.
— The Guardian
The Champs-Élysées, History & Perspectives study, led by French architect Philippe Chiambaretta of PCA-STREAM, explains the potential of the major urban overhaul: "The overall vision for the district located between the Champs-Élysées roundabout and the Arc de Triomphe builds up the... View full entry
