Though unemployment is widespread among designers and architects, there exists a world of products, places and processes in desperate need of redesign. Imagine if designers — uniquely trained to listen and observe, and to improve the way things function, feel and look — were, like the Enterprise Rose fellows, embedded in schools, nonprofit organizations, health clinics, religious institutions and government offices, where they could experience community needs and behavioral patterns firsthand. — John Cary and Courtney E. Martin (NYT)
In his own unique graphic language, he details his extensive creative pursuits, including clothing lines, jewelry, and accessories designs for Louis Vuitton, furniture and other product design, limited-edition toys, graphic designs, skate graphics, and collaborations with Moncler, Marc Jacobs, the artist KAWS, and with architects Zaha Hadid and Masamichi Katayama/Wonderwall. — rizzoliusa.com
Terminal workers speak a florid corporate language of “space optimization” and “key performance indicators.” Longshoremen click computer mice and complain about Microsoft Windows as everyone else in the white-collar world does. — NYT
Over the weekend Alan Feuer, took readers along on a tour of the six container terminals belonging to the The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The visit gave him an opportunity to report on how the; infrastructural-logistical pressures of a post-Panamax infrastructure, along with... View full entry
On 29 September 2012, the Architecture Exhibition Fall 2012 opened at Harboufront Centre in Toronto. Curated by Patrick Macaulay, BREATHTAKING: Constructed Landscapes features PLANT Architect Inc.’s installation Lenticular Curtain alongside the works of architects Baird Sampson Neuert, Idea... View full entry
“We are grateful to each of the firms for the thoughtfulness and creativity they demonstrated throughout the process. There is no doubt that each group was fully capable of helping us realize our vision of a 425 Park Avenue tower that redefines the modern office environment while also respecting and enhancing the timeless allure of the Plaza district.” — New York Observer
In one of the most unusual assignments around, Foster, Rogers, Koolhaas and Hadid were asked to tackle a New York City office building on Park Avenue. A famous address with two famous towers, but really, the rest of them stink. The catch for 425 Park, one of those middcentury stinkers, is that... View full entry
The new cottage will be decorated with sculptures, furniture, ceramics, and tapestries, all narrating her story: "a difficult childhood, young love, a truncated education, children, divorce and finally fulfilment in her career and love life," explained Perry.
"The idea behind the project relates to buildings put up as memorials to loved ones, to follies, to eccentric home-built structures, to shrines, lighthouses and fairytales," the artist explained.
— artinfo.com
He said it was impossible to re-register his Fake Cultural Development firm because officials had confiscated relevant documents.
The move follows his failed bid last week to challenge a tax evasion fine imposed on the firm.
— bbc.co.uk
The new building cost about $26 million to build—70 percent below the previous budget. But is less less? When the new plan was announced, Nicolai Ouroussoff, writing in the Times, thought so, calling it "a major step down in architectural ambition."
Ouroussoff was wrong. True, no one can know what the "cluster of pavilions" would have looked like. I can only report that the rectangular building is a triumph. The materials are gorgeous.
— archrecord.construction.com
Curves are to be banned in a new generation of no-frills school buildings, according to a government crackdown on what it believes is wasteful extravagance in educational architecture.
Design templates unveiled for 261 replacement school buildings also prohibit folding internal partitions to subdivide classrooms, roof terraces that can be used as play areas, glazed walls and translucent plastic roofs.
— guardian.co.uk
Citing serious concerns, a group of high-profile architects advising Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the downtown football stadium is recommending a redesign of the Los Angeles Convention Center hall that is part of the project.
Several members of the "Vision Team," a group of eight architects assembled by Villaraigosa to consult, believe the plan has major flaws, including having visitors enter the new hall through a dark, unsafe space created by stretching the building over Pico Boulevard.
— dailynews.com
An architecture buff himself with an interest in skyscraper designs, Villaraigosa formed the eight-member Vision Team, which includes Hitoshi Abe, chairman of the Department of Architecture & Urban Design School at UCLA, architect Scott Johnson of Los Angeles firm Johnson Fain, and Paul... View full entry
In a telephone interview, Mr. Meier said he was “open minded” about the aesthetic of the new crossing, and said that he hoped the final product would be “something people think of in a positive manner.”
“When you think of the great bridges in New York City, you think of the Brooklyn Bridge, right?” he said. “From any point of view, it’s a beautiful bridge, and one would hope that what happens here is of that quality.”
— The New York Times
Architect Richard Meier, Jeff Koons, and the Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas P. Campbell are some of the six experts whom New York State Governor Cuomo has named to review the design elements of the three bids the state received for the Tappan Zee bridge project. View full entry
Surrounded by a reflecting pool dotted with floating lanterns, the six-story “Golden Moon” is the creation of Hong Kong-based architects Kristof Crolla and Adam Fingrut, who won a design contest to build the work. Constructed from bamboo and steel, it incorporates golden yellow and flame red fabric as well as 10,000 LED lights that illuminate it from within. The structure took 11 days to complete. — blogs.wsj.com
Brooklynites might consider themselves lucky. In Manhattan, Madison Square Garden’s owners are renovating, spending nearly $1 billion. Judging from results so far, it won’t be enough. The Barclays Center is no Garden disaster, just an extraordinarily expensive lost opportunity. — bloomberg.com
"Around the world, architects and designers are finding innovative ways to evoke emotion through bold use of color," says Jackie Jordan, director of color marketing, Sherwin-Willilams. "From climbing gym to concert hall, the eight projects below demonstrate how vivid, playful hues will... View full entry
in the latest edition of ShowCase: New Keelung Harbor Service Building, Archinect presents the first prize winning project by Neil M. Denari Architects, Inc. (NMDA). The details include; 120,780 square meters, Ground breaking: 2013, Completion: terminal (2015), office building (2017). double o zero immediately noted that "Something like this would have countless comments just a few years ago. Now it is just another thing".
The recent feature Instigating Change with Common Ground, written by John Southern is a critical but largely positive review of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Therein, he put forward the argument that this year’s "Biennale doesn’t have much to be cynical, negative, or nasty about" and... View full entry