The project, estimated at 400 million euros, or $433 million, features designs by the architects Eva Jiricna, Richard Meier and John Pawson, in addition to the 10 emerging firms, three of which are Czech and seven that are British. — The New York Times
The irony of [Metelkova Mesto's] transformation – from the military arm of a censorious regime to a tolerant artistic community – is what makes the regeneration project of this space so encouraging...Metelkova, in contrast, has built its image firmly on its artistic and cultural credentials. It’s autonomous, but not anarchistic; liberal, but not lawless. — The Guardian
More on Archinect:Developer wants to re-use and trademark the 5Pointz name for their new residential towersMuralists and the fragile relationship with the buildings they paint onThe Uncertain Future of Slab City, CaliforniaHerzog & de Meuron to redevelop Berlin’s infamous Tacheles cultural... View full entry
“a barbershop, a beautiful barbershop formed by curves of alabaster stone. It would resemble an albino slug that’s eating a pile of white towels. Instead of sitting on swivel chairs during your haircut, you’d rest on a big egg that rises out of an indoor reflecting pool. [...]
Every day, I open the phone book and call a handful of random barbershops to see if anyone is interested, but I have yet to find a barber with the vision and bravery required.” – Zaha Hadid
— clickhole.com
I had dreamed of the day when the visionary and hysterical ClickHole would lampoon starchitects. Now that day has come, and the resulting listicle does not disappoint.Here's Frank Gehry's lost project for the "Evil Concert Hall":"Instead of holding music, the evil hall would just house endless... View full entry
If you happen to find yourself wandering IJburg's Centrumeiland artificial island in Amsterdam this summer, you might encounter a peculiar group of art installations randomly camped out in what feels like the middle of nowhere. Although the installations alone are enough to draw in passers-by... View full entry
In a fifty-one minute conversation with New York Times critic Michael Kimmelman, Bjarke Ingels does little to dispel his reputation as a media-friendly starchitect who dances his way around thorny design issues by reminding everyone of the rose. When Kimmelman brings up the wind issues that an... View full entry
He’s Mr. Lifestyle of the rich and famous, do you want a piece of him? No not Britney Spears, but rather world-renowned architect Renzo Piano. Visitors to the recent Piece by Piece: Renzo Piano Building Workshop at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai were engaged in the evolution of the... View full entry
Been a little too productive today? Amuse and potentially frighten yourself by seeing what architecture looks like through the warped, creepy lens of Google's "DeepDream," a recently unveiled image recognition software program that essentially displays what artificial neural networks think they... View full entry
Called Lysningen or ‘The Clearing’, it has been designed by the Bergen-based architects 3RW. [...]
“It is actually much better than I had thought,.” [Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the general manager of Utøya,] said. “The frame around the woods and the silence of nature, makes it feel like a well.”
— thelocal.no
On July 22, 2011, on the island of Utøyah, a lone gunman named Anders Breivik attacked a youth summer camp run by the Norwegian Workers’ Youth League (AUF), killing 69 people. Today, on the fourth anniversary of the attack, a memorial to the victims officially opens on the island. Known as... View full entry
The trend toward living in less square footage isn't just about battling rent hikes: in Orange County, the able-bodied and financially resourceful are choosing to habitate (and sometimes co-habitate) in so-called micro or mini-apartments. Although the definition varies, anything below 500 square... View full entry
As far as major cities go, few other places are in possession of so many treasures that are so poorly exhibited as Berlin. It's as though cultural institutions here go out of their way to keep people from visiting. [...]
The city is undeniably home to diverse, valuable and unique museum collections, but they aren't helping the city as much as they should be.
— spiegel.de
In the SPIEGEL article's comment section, reader nsmith compares the museum situation in Berlin with New York and raises a word of caution: "I read this article and I am envious. In New York City, it's almost impossible to get into any of the major Museums on any given... View full entry
"I propose a Moon village on the far side of the Moon.” –Professor Johann-Dietrich Woerner, Director General of the European Space Agency — BBC.com
The Director General of the European Space Agency Johann-Dietrich Woerner has proposed creating an international village on the moon, partly as an apolitical way to bring more countries into the space program, and partly as a way to realistically pursue new frontiers in cosmic... View full entry
Clearly, the days of the critic’s hegemony are done. [...]
Yet as I know from years of blogging and tweeting, there is often wisdom in the crowd. The people who live in a neighborhood or work in a building often know more about it than the lazy critic who makes only a cursory inspection.
My take on all this is that architecture criticism is not dead ... They fail to recognize that the circumstances of our time offer promise as well as peril.
— niemanreports.org
In a speech delivered this past spring at Chicago's Society of Architectural Historians, Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, addressed the nature of architecture criticism in today's media landscape. The talk came after Kamin's contentious Twitter exchange with "comb-over... View full entry
[Ali] Piwowar, who studied at Carleton University in Ottawa, wrote her masters thesis in architecture on preserving the heritage of grain elevators by transforming them into community spaces.
Saskatchewan once had over 3,000 wooden grain elevators. One by one, however, the structures have been disappearing from the skyline, victims of changing economic and transportation conditions. Today, Piwowar estimates there are around 400 such elevators remaining with only 80 in working order.
— cbc.ca
More from the world of grain elevators and their reuse potentials:The Evil, Evil Grain Elevator: Places Journal studies how grain elevators can seem both friendly and terrifying.Stored Potential launches: a 2010 competition for an "iconic vacant grain elevator near downtown Omaha".The Wassaic... View full entry
For decades, China’s government has tried to limit the size of Beijing, the capital, through draconian residency permits. Now, the government has embarked on an ambitious plan to make Beijing the center of a new supercity of 130 million people.
The planned megalopolis, a metropolitan area that would be about six times the size of New York’s, is meant to revamp northern China’s economy and become a laboratory for modern urban growth.
— nytimes.com
Related stories:China’s "most influential architect" is not pleased with the state of Chinese urbanismBeijing mayor says air pollution makes his city "unlivable"China Moves to Ease Home-Registration Rules in Urbanization Push View full entry
Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena has been named architecture director of the 2016 Venice Biennale, in a decision made by Biennale's Board on July 18. Known for award-winning architectural work under his own Santiao-based firm, Alejandro Aravena Architects, Aravena also serves as the executive... View full entry