“The lots that determine the Flatiron shape have previously been avoided since the resultant interiors are unusual and not easy to market,” Patrice Derrington, director of the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia University, wrote last week in an email. “However, ‘as needs be’ developers are attending to these less favorable sites, as they eke out every last possibility.” — The New York Times
As new New York City real estate gets increasingly rare and pricey, architects are facing unusual design challenges. Herewith, some of most expensive, tiniest, and outré in NYC design news:My Micro NYC Apartment Complex Is Officially RentingNew York's Megatowers: Nothing but 'Vertical... View full entry
If you're in London Friday, you can celebrate the late, great Zaha Hadid at a public memorial held at the Magazine restaurant at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. Between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., visitors can sign books of condolence and pay respects to her surviving family members, which include her... View full entry
Who better to master plan the campus of the The Williams College Department of Art and Museum of Art than daily watercolorist (and architect) Steven Holl? In addition to expanding William College's art presence in the region, the study's goals include shaping the campus space to connect interior... View full entry
It is not enough to just catalogue these [structures] in photos and videos, it is our aim to break down the logic of these patterns, and recreate them in code in order to make them more accessible and possibly allowing them to find new life in contemporary applications. By building an open source library, accessible to architects, artists, mathematicians, and software engineers, we can carry these patterns and traditions forward for future generations. — Metropolis Magazine
Lauren Connell (architect at BIG), Alexis Burson (associate at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners), and Baris Yuksel (Google senior engineer) share their architectural and computer engineering perspectives on Project Agama. The collaboration aims to document and digitally preserve the intricate... View full entry
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. On April 26, 1986, technicians conducting a test inadvertently caused reactor number four to explode...
Reuters reports that a huge recently-completed enclosure called the New Safe Confinement—the world's largest land-based moving structure—will be “pulled slowly over the site later this year to create a steel-clad casement to block radiation and allow the remains of the reactor to be dismantled safely.”
— The Atlantic
Although it sounds like an early aughts indie band name, the New Safe Confinement structure over Chernobyl's reactor number four is finally complete, constructed at an estimated cost of €1.5 billion. Meanwhile, neighboring city and officially uninhabitable Pripyat has become a hauntingly... View full entry
Why are airports built for everyone — the city, the airlines, the retailers — except for the very people who use them the most: the passengers?
When discussing his work, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was fond of saying, ‘God is in the details.’ Thanks to star architects, we now have towering, impressive halls of light and space. These new airports are the cathedrals of the 21st century: centers of communication, travel, family and commerce. But where are ‘God’s details’ in these new cathedrals?
— The New York Times
“Architects have to try to create art and, at the same time, make room for sightlines, security checkpoints and control rooms,” writer Chris Holbrook says in his piece. “It’s an almost impossible juggling act, I realize, and it’s a small wonder that any airport gets built that isn’t... View full entry
After Alejandro Aravena accepted the Pritzker Prize yesterday, his firm Elemental released four open source plans for low income housing that, according to the firm's website, balance the constraints of "low-rise high density, without overcrowding, with possibility of expansion (from social... View full entry
"We wanted the unit itself to be relatively neutral but warm and inviting," [McKelvey] says. "If you look at WeWork as a brand I think the way we design has a more masculine vibe. It’s a little bit heavier and there are some strong contrasts. In the units in WeLive we wanted to have more lightness. Not necessarily masculine and feminine, but just a variable so someone can come in and easily make minimal [changes] and have an impact." — fastcodesign.com
Check out our Working Out of the Box interview with Miguel McKelvey for more on WeWork's design process.More news from WeWork and WeLive:Can WeWork re-engineer the spatial dynamics of society?WeLive, WeWork's co-living venture, opens for beta testing in New York CityMore details emerge about... View full entry
Richard Kim is a pretty busy guy – as the head designer at emerging electric vehicle company, Faraday Future, Kim is tasked with creating the company's very first EV for production, destined to compete with Tesla and, as he sees it, the airline industry. No public design is available yet, but... View full entry
Caruso St John, Stanton Williams with Asif Khan, and BIG in a team with Hawkins\Brown have been shortlisted to design the Museum of London’s new home in Smithfields.
The shortlisted teams saw off 80 entries from more than 140 practices and were chosen based on their relevant skills and experience, in particular of significant cultural projects.
The competition will create a £150 million new base for the Museum of London in the historic West Smithfield market.
— architectsjournal.co.uk
Also selected:Lacaton & Vassal Architectes with Pernilla Ohrstedt StudioDiener & Diener Architekten with Sergison Bates Architects, East Architecture and Graphic Thought FacilityStudio Milou architecture with RL & Associés, Axis Architects and Alan Baxter AssociatesRead more articles... View full entry
The fort community houses 59 families, and is well-known for its wooden houses in the early Rattanakosin-style. Faced with strong resistance from the community, and academics and activists, City Hall the plan but dusted it off early last month amid a public outcry. — Bangkok Post
The Pom Mahakan community on the edge of Rattanakosin Island in Bangkok has been there for more than 150 years. Many of the old teak houses remain behind the last piece of the original wall of the city. The people of this community have faced many eviction threats in the past 20 years as the... View full entry
Foster + Partners’ plans for the overhaul of London’s Grade II-listed Whiteleys shopping centre have got the go-ahead – despite opposition from locals.
Westminster City Council approved the contentious scheme last night, but will now look into setting conditions concerning the scale of two residential towers that form part of the proposal, alongside a gym, hotel, cinema and new shops.
— thespaces.com
For more on listed projects, take a look at previous coverage here:Another Grade II listed building loses its protected status in north east EnglandSex Pistols graffiti secures famous Tin Pan Alley building Grade 2* listed status View full entry
It’s not enough to just give someone a shelter. A home really needs a certain amount of consideration as to how you live in it. As we look at housing as a solution for helping the homeless and middle class -- especially in L.A. -- we have an opportunity to expand the vocabulary. We’ve never been tied down with what housing looks like in Los Angeles. We can have super interesting approaches to density here. — Mimi Zeiger – latimes.com
More from the world of tiny homes:The Tiny House FantasyWoman's dream tiny home clashes with Canadian lawThe problem with tiny homes - they can get stolenSwedish architects design for un-permited small-space livingPrototyping: Tiny House Design Workshop View full entry
A drone skyscraper has been proposed by designers Hadeel Ayed Mohammed, Yifeng Zhao and Chengda Zhu that acts as a central control terminal for drones to dock and recharge, situated in the heart of Manhattan.
The ‘dronescraper’, dubbed ‘the hive’ has been proposed as an alternative to Rafael Vinoy’s 432 Park Avenue superstructure, which is set to become the tallest residential tower in the western hemisphere.
— Design MENA
The skyscraper has been undergoing some significant design reconceptualizations lately. Here's a round-up of the most interesting takes:A closer look at BIG's West 57th Street "courtscraper"Screen/Print #30: SOILED's "Cloudscrapers"A bamboo skyscraper fosters public life View full entry
What was it like to be Zaha Hadid? From teaching to developing her vision to turning down an opportunity to work with Rem Koolhaas, in this remembrance we collect a few of Zaha's first-person writings and interviews about her life and work from her unparalleled, groundbreaking career. On being a... View full entry
