Rem Koolhaas, in an infamous essay from 1995, goes straight to the point: ‘the style of choice (of suburbia) is postmodern, and will always remain so’. — Failed Architecture
'In the post-war period most of the middle class of northern Italy looked straightforwardly towards the future and refused to be ‘contaminated’ by tradition. The best experimental designs by Franco Albini, Ignazio Gardella, Carlo Scarpa and Gianni Avon were inspired by the strong need for... View full entry
The Italian government announced [May 2] that it is allocating €1bn [approx. $1.15B] to major restoration and building projects at 33 museums, monuments and archaeological sites across the country, including Pompeii, the earthquake-stricken city of L’Aquila and the Uffizi galleries in Florence. [C]ulture minister Dario Franceschini described the funding, which will continue until 2020, as the “biggest investment in cultural heritage” in Italy’s history. — The Art Newspaper
More on Archinect:Better than ever: Mackintosh Building will reopen in 2018 along with campus expansionRecreation of Palmyra's Arch of Triumph presented in Trafalgar SquareLe Corbusier's Cité de Refuge in Paris to reopen after restoration View full entry
A boxy steel and glass building standing just three stories tall, the Catholic Pastoral Center at 601 Grand Ave. doesn’t command a lot of attention. But among local architects and history buffs, it has a cult following.
“This is a building that appears in architecture textbooks,” said Jennifer James, an architectural historian...
Now, the building is poised for a $10 million renovation that Catholic Diocese of Des Moines officials say will extend its life another 50 years.
— Des Moines Register
The building in question, now known as the Catholic Pastoral Center, was designed by none other than Mies van der Rohe. One of the first steel and glass modernist buildings in Des Moines, it was originally known as the Home Federal Savings and Loan building and opened in 1962.The building... View full entry
Nestled within an industrial patch of warehouses in the Danish city of Roskilde stands the golden-studded, newly inaugurated Ragnarock, a museum where rock, pop, and youth culture are housed under one roof. COBE and MVRDV joined forces to design the new museum, which is part of the larger ROCKmagneten masterplan that the architects won in 2011. — Bustler
Head over to Bustler for more details.Previously:ROCKmagneten: MVRDV and COBE Win Danish Rock Museum Competition in Roskilde View full entry
“A good part of any day in Los Angeles,” Joan Didion wrote in 1989, “is spent driving, alone, through streets devoid of meaning to the driver, which is one reason the place exhilarates some people, and floods others with an amorphous unease.” I quote this statement every chance I get; it is among the most trenchant ever written about the place. But all that is changing, or might be, if the promises implied by the Expo Line expansion can be kept. — nytimes.com
On May 20, Los Angeles's Metro will open the expansion of its Expo Line, stretching from downtown past its current terminus in Culver City all the way to Santa Monica, blocks from the Pacific Ocean. The dream of "Broadway to the beach" by train in LA will soon become a reality, and stands to be a... View full entry
In an order that sends a strong message against corruption, the Bombay High Court on Friday ordered the Union Environment Ministry to demolish 31-storey Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society. [...]
The society, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and war widows, was converted into a 100-metre-tall building with politicians, bureaucrats and army officers allegedly conspiring to get flats allotted to them in the cooperative society at below-market rates.
— The Times of India
Click here to learn more about the Adarsh Housing Society scam and corruption scandal.Related stories in the Archinect news:Top 13 floors of India's tallest skyscraper were built illegally, High Court saysIndia on the brink: what's in store for the country's architectural futureWorld's first Slum... View full entry
“I believe it’s important for all ages to interact on a day to day basis. It...hopefully removes the labelling of people as ‘elderly’ or ‘past it’ and the self-fulfilling behaviours that are often generated by this.”
“Cities need cross-generational activities...People living alone of whatever age can become isolated, lonely and then mental health problems can develop.”
“Teach young people that we are not going to move over, nor do we have to.”
— The Guardian
How do you define an age-friendly city? Share in the comment section below.More on Archinect:Nation's first combined housing complex for LGBT youth and seniors coming to HollywoodLoneliness is on the rise throughout the world's citiesMidwest developer planning shared residence for seniors and... View full entry
Prince’s Paisley Park home in Minneapolis is set to be turned into a museum, according to the late musician’s brother-in-law, Maurice Phillips.
“We will turn Paisley Park into a museum in Prince’s memory,” Phillips told the Sun. “It would be for the fans. He was all about the fans — this would remember his music, which is his legacy.”
Prince died last Thursday at the Paisley Park estate. An autopsy was conducted, but the cause of death has yet to be announced. His remains were later cremated.
— Variety
Named after Prince's song of the same name, Paisley Park is located outside of Minneapolis. The $10 million, 65,000-square-foot space housed more than just the musician's private residence: it included recording studios, offices, and a nightclub.The complex was built in 1987 and designed... View full entry
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has announced the launch of a body to oversee the treatment of workers on Qatar’s World Cup stadiums.
Fifa has been under pressure from Amnesty International, among others, over the alleged human rights abuses suffered by construction operatives at World Cup venues.
— globalconstructionreview.com
Previously in the Archinect news:"7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before a ball is kicked in the 2022 World Cup," new ITUC report findsBBC journalists arrested for reporting on Qatar's World Cup laborersRevealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves' to Build InfrastructureDire safety conditions... View full entry
It once seemed like a herculean, if not insurmountable, challenge – raising $600 million or more for an ambitious modernist building to serve as the new home for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Skeptics abounded when plans were first announced three years ago. But momentum now seems to be shifting in LACMA's favor with the announcement this week of two major donations that will push the fundraising campaign near the halfway point.
— Los Angeles Times
The donations together amount to the largest the museum has ever received. Elaine Wynn, a major collector and co-chair of the museum, pledged $50 million. Former Univision chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio has promised to give $25 million for the project.Both donations hinge on the successful launch... View full entry
If you want evidence that London’s renters are being taken advantage of, look no further than a new social media campaign. Launched Monday, the #rantyourrent hashtag encourages London’s overcharged and poorly housed tenants to visually detail the bad conditions they’re expected to put up with in return for large sums of monthly rent.
The results, detailed in a new Tumblr called Vent Your Rent, make for sobering viewing.
— citylab.com
More articles on London and the housing crisis here:The root of London's housing crisis lies beyond its bordersLondon's housing crisis is creating a chasm between the rich and poorLondon's Bleak Housing View full entry
Höller wanted to show that you don’t necessarily get to know a sculpture better by literally travelling through it; that once inside it begins to look like something else entirely... The Slide, a permanent fixture at London’s Olympic Park, will give people a full 40 seconds to experience this and decide for themselves as they make their way down the 178m chute at an estimated 15mph. — wallpaper.com
An hour south from the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip, a tiny town in Nevada is up for sale.
Cal-Nev-Ari, Nev. (pronounced Cal-Nev-Air) is off a lonely stretch of Highway 95, surrounded by distant mountains and endless desert. The town isn't far from the California and Arizona borders [...].
If you can afford the $8 million asking price, you'll get the airstrip, the diner and the town's only casino. That includes a dozen old slot machines and a smokey bar. This place has character.
— npr.org
Related stories in the Archinect news: New Nevada solar plant can store heat from the sun for up to 10 hours – with molten saltFaraday Future holds groundbreaking ceremony for $1B Nevada factoryA look inside Tesla's growing Gigafactory: "It will blow your mind." View full entry
with the rise of these innovative areas, traditional-style dorms, characterized by shared bathrooms and two or more students living with one another in a single space, are becoming less frequent on campus, and will soon be discontinued altogether. [...]
living in a traditional-style dorm is important, especially for first-year students, because the living arrangements allow for greater communication between residents that may not necessarily occur in the newer dorms.
— kykernel.com
Related on Archinect:Luxury UK student housing is on the rise, and with it, gentrification fearsViennese student dorms may Passively House refugeesHomework and Jacuzzis as Dorms Move to McMansions in California View full entry
As the Nepalese government continues to face criticism for the slow pace of the country’s reconstruction, Nepal’s prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli announced today that the reconstruction of key heritage sites in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur is to finally begin, the Associated Press reports. — The Art Newspaper
A year after the devastating quake, there is some good news in Nepal. As this article notes,The World Monuments Fund (WMF) also announced today that it, in collaboration with American Express, was financing the rebuilding of the 16th-century Char Narayan Temple, which was reduced to rubble by the... View full entry