To snap a photo of the Hollywood sign, tourists have clogged hillside streets and hiking paths, spurring battles in Hollywood Hills neighborhoods and in court over how people should be able to access the iconic landmark.
Now Mayor Eric Garcetti has floated an alternative: Building a gondola to ferry visitors to the beloved sign.
— The Los Angeles Times
Instead of having to evade trespassing laws (or take the long way around), those who want to visit the Hollywood sign up close may be able to simply take an aerial gondola lift if Mayor Eric Garcetti's recent remarks become a reality. As this article notes:Garcetti spokesman George Kivork said in... View full entry
Kenneth A. Himmel, president of Related’s mixed-use division Related Urban, said in a statement, “Exceptional dining experiences are extremely important in curating not only the restaurant collection, but the new neighborhood we are creating, and we are thrilled with the caliber of chefs and restaurateurs that will be coming to Hudson Yards. These chefs and restaurateurs represent the most creative and visionary leaders both in this industry and around the world.” — 6sqft
Yesterday, developers Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group announced that celebrity chef José Andrés would bring a 35,000-square-foot food hall to Hudson Yards.Fresh off the news, they've also released a slew of new renderings of the mega-development's retail and restaurant spaces... View full entry
Both Vienna and Budapest can be viewed as battlefields in an unfolding European crisis of identity and confidence that threatens the continent’s political unity and raises fundamental questions about what exactly it means to be European, to be Europe. Can we read these crises at the level of architecture? — Places Journal
In light of contemporary political turmoil in the region, Owen Hatherley examines key moments in the architectural histories of two quintessentially European cities, from the development of Vienna's monumental public housing to Budapest's experimentation with an ethnonationalist style. View full entry
Stefano Boeri — known for designing the Vertical Forest typology — was recently appointed as a curator for the 2017 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, deemed as Shanghai's most relevant architecture, city planning, and public art event. Boeri will work alongside Dr. Li Xiangning, professor and... View full entry
As he toured facilities for the poor in Ohio last week, Mr. Carson, the neurosurgeon-turned-housing secretary, joked that a relatively well-appointed apartment complex for veterans lacked “only pool tables.” He inquired at one stop whether animals were allowed. At yet another, he nodded, plainly happy, as officials explained how they had stacked dozens of bunk beds inside a homeless shelter and purposefully did not provide televisions. — The New York Times
In a recent visit to a public housing facility in Columbus, Ohio, HUD head Ben Carson reiterated his stance that anyone receiving Section 8 housing vouchers or federal assistance should not get too comfortable, as this would lead them to simply want to stay in their federally provided digs... View full entry
Formerly a professor and Dean of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, Nancy Pollock-Ellwand will become the Dean of the College of Architecture at the University of Arizona starting July 31st. As University of Arizona Senior Vice President for academic affairs and provost Andrew... View full entry
Working toward fairer professional architectural practice is an ongoing uphill climb in the industry, but which practices are already getting it right? The Architecture Lobby recently co-launched an initiative called JustDesign.Us, a certification process to distinguish architecture firms with... View full entry
If I was a poet, I would speak of Istanbul
If I were a musician, my music would belong to Istanbul
If I was a painter, I would paint Istanbul -Mihail
Prolific French artist JR continues to produce impactful work, following up his latest public exhibition with a special installation of his “Wrinkles of the City” series. First launched in 2008, the series is meant to visually portray the faces affected by gentrification and rapid... View full entry
After being unanimously chosen out of 11 renowned architecture firms, Peter Zumthor presented his vision for the expansion project of the reputable Fondation Beyeler Museum in Riehen, Basel. Joining the original Renzo Piano-designed museum building, the new expansion will provide more room for the... View full entry
Imagine combining the movable gangway employed for airplane passengers with the slender above-ground urban footprint of a subway station, and you have the basic concepts behind Gensler and Dror's proposed underground cruise operation in their masterplan for the Galataport in Istanbul. Using a... View full entry
[K. Michael Hays] represents an approach to teaching architecture and architectural theory that has held sway in the American academy for at least a generation. This approach doesn’t simply treat architecture as a discipline separate from the rest of the world, with its own passwords and protocols. It guards that separation with its life. — The Los Angeles Times
A spirited Christopher Hawthorne reviews Harvard GSD's first online course as taught by K. Michael Hays, who appears to prize obfuscation and condescension as teaching methods (Hawthorne does explain the history behind this autonomous pedagogy, which resulted from architects of the 1970s needing... View full entry
“The Hall of Nations is a very significant building in the evolution of modern architecture in India. It demonstrated the ability of the profession in 1970 to build a large space frame structure with available resources, which in this case was reinforced cement concrete and skilled hand-labour.”
“It was an iconic building representing an important step in the development of Indian architecture. It should have been conserved on that account,”
— Indian Express
Built to mark the 25th anniversary of India's independence in 1972, Delhi's historic Hall of Nations and Hall of Industries were demolished last week to make way for a new commercial complex. The Delhi High Court's verdict was based on the decision of the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC)... View full entry
“How do you live with all that cement,” my schoolmates would ask. “With delight” was the only answer. They understood once they visited. — The New York Times
Part childhood memoir, part ode to brutalism itself, this piece by Blake Gopnik touches on his experiences living in Habitat 67 while celebrating the return of a form that many openly reviled for decades, but have now gradually come to like, even treasure. (Of course, not all is well for brutalist... View full entry
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Obamas will finally reveal a conceptual model of the former president’s library and museum tomorrow. The Obamas are to release the three-dimensional model at a community meeting event at the South Shore Cultural Center, which also happens to be where the... View full entry
In Japan, small companies offering custom-built underground nuclear shelters claim a boost in sales in recent weeks. Oribe Seiki Seisakusho, based in Kobe, western Japan, told Reuters it typically receive six shelter-building orders a year, but has received eight orders in April alone. Another company, Earth Shift, says it has received 10 times more inquiries for quotes this year. — Quartz
North Korea has been busy launching missiles and testing nuclear weapons the past few weeks—and their flexing of power on the international stage has many worried. As fear of global conflict increases, their neighbor, Japan, is left particularly vulnerable due to its proximity to North Korea and... View full entry
