Today’s libraries have also evolved into complex institutions compressed into small spaces, making their design needs equally intricate. ... In the end, the problem of how to build good public architecture briskly and frugally has little to do with design and everything to do with bureaucracy. Virtually no one feels the urgency or has the clout to reform a sclerotic system. — New York Magazine
Zaha Hadid was a force to be reckoned with throughout her illustrious 40-year career. From her early experimentations to her posthumously completed buildings, over 200 of Hadid's projects are surveyed in a newly expanded and updated edition of the book, “The Complete Zaha Hadid”. Thanks to... View full entry
Concepts like “making room for the river,” which works well in the Netherlands, can mean mass evictions in the Global South. Too often, the rhetoric of climate adaptation is doublespeak for the displacement of poor communities, and an alibi for unsustainable growth. — Places Journal
As coastal megacities adapt to climate change, they often bring in outside planning experts who push highly engineered, technocratic resilience programs. Lizzie Yarina looks at how this trend is affecting local communities in Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, and Jakarta, and argues that... View full entry
This post is brought to you by the Steven Myron Holl Foundation The Steven Myron Holl Foundation has announced the application for this year’s summer architecture residency. Entitled Rural Compression: Cosmic Dust, this year’s topic intersects architecture, the ecology of the Hudson Valley... View full entry
Foster + Partners unveiled their design concept for one of the 10 temporary chapels of the first ever Vatican City pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale. Collaborating with Tecno, Foster + Partners will build their chapel in a forest area at one end of the Venetian island of San Giorgio... View full entry
Looks like Houston has a giant, shiny bean-shaped sculpture of its own now. Completing its two-day installation today, “Cloud Column” by Anish Kapoor — the same artist who created Chicago's infamous “Cloud Gate” — is the first of two sculptures on the Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza at... View full entry
Sergio Mannino Studio recently completed a pharmacy retail project in Brooklyn. The space is a flagship for Medly, a healthcare startup offering a more efficient and enjoyable way for the community to order prescription medicine via an app. Medly pharmacy designed by Sergio Mannino Studio... View full entry
For eight years in a row, an international survey of nearly 300 cities has named Hong Kong the world’s least affordable housing market. [...]
Architects and developers have also put forward some novel proposals, ranging from the quirky to the audacious. While some of the ideas may be repackaged versions of the cramped spaces the city has long known, others could reshape the future of housing in Hong Kong.
— The New York Times
The proposal by architect James Law to squeeze 100-square-foot micro apartments into concrete drainpipes was widely published a few weeks ago. The NYT lists a few more 'solutions' — some lofty, others being already implemented. View full entry
Elon Musk announced that the Boring Company will sell LEGO-like interlocking bricks made from rock that his tunneling machines excavate from the earth. Musk stated these bricks will be sold in "kits" and will be rated to withstand California's earthquakes. ... View full entry
To Skip Phillips, consumer-driven demand has moved the infinity pool away from its original design premise of blending with the landscape. It doesn’t have to be a vertical drop, like that at Marina Bay Sands. “The impetus for this came from the buying public,” and, he adds, “an uneducated pool industry.”
To understand how the infinity pool became a status symbol, it’s important to realize that “wellness” is a luxury commodity.
— The Outline
This Outline piece by Daisy Alioto dives into the origins of the vanishing edge infinity pool, which now — thanks to a lot of help from social media — has evolved into a trendy symbol of luxury. View full entry
The Architecture Lobby released the following statement with regards to the #metoo movement in architecture. The organization invites firms to join their Solidarity Network in support of those who speak up against sexual harassment or abuse. "We, The Architecture Lobby, stand with victims of... View full entry
The History Channel will soon air Project Impossible, a series following the next generation of massive engineering projects considered unthinkable only a few years ago. Shot in 14 countries, the first season includes 10 one-hour episodes focusing on undertakings shaping the future of our... View full entry
AKK Studios, a collaborative comprised of (and named after) three artists—sculptor Kevin Francis Gray, artist Keith Coventry and artist/collector Alireza Abrishamchi—has teamed up with local London architects Fourthspace to create a four-story studio complex. AKK Studios by Fourthspace ©... View full entry
Over the last few months, the team at Forensic Architecture, housed at London’s Goldsmiths University in Lewisham, has been working to piece together data and footage from the event using a mixture of video and imagery from Youtube, Periscope and other forms of social media, as well as footage from Sky News, which is a partner on the project. — Wired
In June of 2017 the Grenfell Tower fire killed 71 in the London public housing block. Criminal investigations are still ongoing with no one yet held accountable. Forensic Architecture has taken on the case in order to piece together how the fire spread within minutes throughout the... View full entry
Anthony Morey published From the Ground Up: Zaha Hadid, on her Vitra Fire Station. Donatello D'Anconia offered some broader feedback on the From the Ground series "Excluding capital from the discussion perpetuates the idea that architecture is open to those with prolific ideas, eclipsing the... View full entry
