The rural village of Sinthian in southeastern Senegal is home to the THREAD arts center, a new artists' residency and cultural community space set to open this March. The idea for the arts center originated from the long-term efforts of doctor and local Sinthian leader, Magueye Ba, who spearheaded... View full entry
Hours before the official inauguration of the Philharmonie de Paris concert hall on Wednesday, its architect, Jean Nouvel, declared his intention to boycott the gala because he said the towering, 386 million euro (about $455 million) building is not ready to open. [...]
Mr. Nouvel wrote a column that appeared on the website of the French daily Le Monde denouncing the “contempt” of the concert hall managers for “the architecture, the work of the architect and the architect.”
— artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com
Construction escalated in the days preceding the opening but large parts of the Philharmonie are still not complete, including the restaurant and exhibition space. The inaugural concert will feature the Orchestre de Paris, with dignitaries and French president François Hollande among... View full entry
Now the barracks plan has been revived. [...] Will one of central Istanbul’s few remaining green spaces become a symbol of consumerist might and the weakness of people power?
Activists have pledged to take to the streets should the plan go forward. “If this project really comes to pass despite the high level of objection from the public, that will create a second wave of uprisings, and this time it will be more influential,” said Eyup Muhcu, the head of Turkey’s main architects’ union.
— nextcity.org
Previously View full entry
How do you choose 126 good ideas for cities from the more than 7,000 proposals submitted to the first Knight Cities Challenge?
It wasn’t easy. But, as of today, we’ve asked 126 happy finalists to submit final applications in three weeks with more details about their ideas. [...]
Each of the 26 Knight communities had at least one applicant named as a finalist, and Detroit had the largest number of applicants: 1,365! Detroit also had the largest number of finalists: 25.
— knightfoundation.org
These are the 126 finalists for the inaugural Knight Cities Challenge:Aberdeen, S.D.Aberdeen SD Welcome and Relocation Center by Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce (Submitted by Gail Ochs): Strengthening newcomers’ attachment to Aberdeen by creating a new welcome and relocation... View full entry
As the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, prepares to break ground on its Foster + Partners—designed expansion in 2016, the institution has launched the second phase of its capital campaign, which has already raised nearly $34 million, more than half of the museum's $60 million goal. [...]
"Foster + Partners' plan pays homage to the Museum's past by restoring the clarity and symmetry of the original building, but also looks to its future as a leading museum in Florida" [...]
— news.artnet.com
Panel- What you do has anything to do with law?
FLW- Unfortunately yes.
Noted: Ladies of the panel don't usually get up to shake the mystery guest's hand but for Frank they do. Is that a sign how noble architect(ure) was? View full entry
We went to Oamaru, New Zealand to see the blue penguins (and they were super cute), but it was the town's dedication to Steampunk that really got us fired up. — boingboing.net
Forget steampunk condos, New Zealand has it's own steampunk town. View full entry
Buoyed by some of the largest donations in the city's history, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will unveil a $450 million project today that envisions its campus as the cultural heart of the city. [...]
The project, by Steven Holl Architects, is the most exciting in the institution's 90-year history, board chairman Richard Kinder said. The plan, named the Fayez S. Sarofim Campus, is so transformational that in five years Houstonians might not recognize the 1000 block of Bissonnet.
— chron.com
Previously: MFAH hires Steven Holl Architects to design expansion View full entry
Only one of the new buildings is ready, its centrepiece artwork had to be dismantled after bits fell off – and people are more excited about getting their first Ikea. [...]
A €155m new station, designed by Santiago Calatrava as a swooping sci-fi bird, is so far no more than a concrete foundation slab. It replaces a much-loved 1950s station by a local architect, and it’s now optimistically scheduled to open in 2018, having escalated to four times its original budget.
— theguardian.com
Related: Libeskind opens his latest building in Belgium today. Is it a snooze? View full entry
While some remain cynical about homeownership, the U.S.'s foreign-born population still regards it as a symbol of attaining the American Dream. [...]
Last year, immigrant households made up 11.2 percent of owner-occupied housing according to the JCHS—that’s up from only 6.8 percent in 1994.
— theatlantic.com
In Detroit, the American Dream has become an American Paradox: Corporate-backed revitalization downtown belies the continued deterioration of sprawling neighborhoods of single-family homes; [...] white newcomers trickle in by choice, just as many black natives have no choice but to stay where they are.
What’s that? It doesn’t sound like the up-from-the-ashes, post-industrial renaissance Detroit you’ve been hearing about of late?
— Columbia Journalism Review
For more about Detroit, take a listen to episode 11 of Archinect Sessions, and our chat with Mitch McEwen: View full entry
China Merchants Group (CMG) has appointed Ole Bouman as Director of the Shekou Design Museum in Shenzhen, a project being developed in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) to become a major design hub for China. Bouman will take up his new role from the beginning of January... View full entry
After 13 years of negotiations with the region's Port Authority, work has begun on the Greek Orthodox church that will be the only non-secular building at Ground Zero. Many believe it will become one of the most visited churches in the US. It is planned to be completed by Easter 2017. — bbc.com
“Boston is a global hub for education, health care, research and technology,” said Boston2024 chairman and Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish in a statement. “We are passionate about sports because we believe in the power of sport to transform our city and inspire the world’s youth. A Boston Games can be one of the most innovative, sustainable and exciting in history and will inspire the next generation of leaders here and around the world.” — boston.com
Previous news on the 2024 Olympics: U.S. in the race for 2024 Olympics, no host city picked yet and Which U.S. city will win the 2024 Olympic bid? Boston, LA, DC and SF duke it outNot all Bostonians are happy with the decision. According to the same boston.com article:"Boston’s bid has... View full entry
From the opening of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in October to the construction of The Broad in Los Angeles now set to open this autumn, the model of the single-donor museum is thriving. [...] what will happen to these new institutions on the death of the founder or the decline in their collecting activity. [...]
To what extent have these museum founders made plans to ensure the vitality and flexibility of their prized institutions beyond their own lifetimes?
— theartnewspaper.com