This post is brought to you by Core77 Design Awards. With the Regular Deadline for entry right around the corner on March 8th, the 2016 Core77 Design Awards invites designers from all over the world to put their best work forward and participate in this annual celebration of design enterprise... View full entry
It’s tempting to see this as celebrity’s flourish, but consider all that the shape achieves: It maximizes river views and covered balconies, obstructs its neighbors as little as possible, fills a deep narrow block without resorting to an ungainly slab, protects even low apartments from the noise of the West Side Highway, pierces the skyline with a jaunty top, and leaves room for a courtyard that even in winter basks in sunlight most of the day. — nymag.com
More BIG news from around the world: New Renderings Revealed for 217 West 57th Street, the Will-Be Tallest Residential Building in the WorldAlbright-Knox Gallery announces short list of firms for $80m expansion: Snøhetta, BIG, OMA, wHY, Allied WorksSerpentine unzips Bjarke Ingels' Pavilion and... View full entry
Seventy-seven architecture sophomores in their second architectural design studio at Iowa State University spent the first month of spring semester developing an installation intended to redefine the College of Design atrium as a public space."Our interest was to challenge the conventional uses of... View full entry
With bold geometric references to cargo sailing masts and portholes, the primary function of Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter's Sailing Tower is to reference the considerable maritime history of the Danish harbor, which was founded in the 8th century and remains an active commercial port today. The... View full entry
Back in September, we told you about a competition to conceive a redesign of the MetLife Building. Earlier this week, the six finalists of the “Reimagine a New York City Icon” competition were announced. The competition, sponsored by Metals in Construction magazine and the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York, isn’t part of any actual process in the works to modify the Midtown office tower, but are fascinating ideas of what could be. Perhaps these ideas will be put into use at other buildings. — New York Yimby
SHoP Architects, AECOM, and Volley Studio are among the six finalists for the competition, which encouraged entrants to reimagine the MetLife Building “with a resource‐conserving, eco‐friendly enclosure – one that creates a highly efficient envelope with the lightness and transparency... View full entry
With over half of the world's population currently living in cities, and seventy percent of it predicted to be urban by 2050, Nissan and Foster + Partners have undertaken the design problem of creating a refuelling network that, among other things, allows electric cars to recharge wirelessly while... View full entry
The hub opens on Thursday, or at least a part of it is opening, including most of the main hall, or Oculus, as it’s called. And at first blush, Mr. Calatrava’s architecture can almost — almost — make you forget what an epic boondoggle the whole thing has been. That virgin view, standing inside the Oculus and gazing up, is a jaw-dropper. — The New York Times
For a blow-by-blow of how Santiago Calatrava's transit hub came to be, check out Archinect's previous coverage:Port Authority officially confirms March opening date for WTC Transportation Hub OculusLeaking water delays opening of World Trade Center Transit Hub's luxury shopping mallMassive 'spine'... View full entry
Bank Tower owners OUE Limited announced today a new addition to the Skyspace observation deck tourist attraction that's guaranteed to give it that "thrill factor": a 36-foot long glass slide that will allow brave souls to slide from the 70th floor to the 69th along the outside of the building.
Called the Skyslide, the chute will be made of clear glass four inches thick [and] sit about 1,000 feet above the ground
— la.curbed.com
Don't look down. Related on Archinect: Glass Cracks Below Tourists in Chicago SkydeckChinese glass-bottom walkway cracks below tourists – 3,540 feet above groundChina opens 590-foot-high glass-bottom bridgeSurvey: Why glass? View full entry
Last week Port Authority decided not to hold an opening ceremony for Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub (followed by their sudden flip flop), citing the fact that it was six years delayed and that final construction costs came in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected. But it’s hardly the only public project to face delays and skyrocketing costs. In fact, it’s not even close to being the worst of the lot that are draining tax payer dollars. — 6sqft.com
One thing, though, is different this time around. These days the city and county are busy investing money and lavishing attention on public spaces across L.A. — and even producing some from scratch...In a range of ways, Southern California is beginning to make up for neglecting its public realm for the bulk of the postwar era. — L.A. Times
With two park design competitions currently underway (linked below), Downtown L.A. is eager to boost its amount of green space. But will those ambitious plans pan out in a tricky cityscape? Christopher Hawthorne gives his two cents on the potential of each park. Previously on Archinect: Take... View full entry
The podcast devoted to all things design, 99% Invisible, collaborates with Vox Media on a video explaining the backstory to "Norman doors". You know, those infuriatingly unclear doors where you can't tell if you should push or pull. The name honors design kingpin and advocate of human-centered... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
"Does the Bauhaus really offer total liberty, or is it a place of oppression where all intimacy in banished, and the group triumphs over the individual?" asks the narrator midway through the English version of the acclaimed documentary The Dessau Bauhaus. The 28-minute film about Walter Gropius'... View full entry
Imagine the conditions of Los Angeles—its housing types, its parking, its response to drought—as a series of mini-golf course obstacles. Or, just go to Materials & Applications this June, when the Silverlake-based exhibition space will launch "TURF: A Mini-Golf Project," featuring the... View full entry
“The combination of the course offerings on a regular basis in subject-area courses, housing studios, design-build, as well as programs for both students and the primary faculty involved—that we feel is unique,” says UO architecture professor Michael Fifield. — Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, American Institute of Architecture
The University of Oregon Department of Architecture was recognized in January as among the finest in the country for its housing design education.UO architecture faculty members Michael Fifield, Peter Keyes, and Rob Thallon, who spearhead the UO Housing Specialization Program, received the... View full entry
